Stephen McPhail announced as Shamrock Rovers Sporting Director

Shamrock Rovers have announced former Republic of Ireland International Stephen McPhail as their new Sporting Director.

McPhail joined the club as a player in 2014 after a lengthy career in England, playing for clubs including Leeds United, Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday. He announced his retirement recently.

For some time Rovers have been in consultation with their members and stakeholders about the planning and restructuring of the club.

According to the Tallaght based outfit a lot of time has been spent on deciding where the club wants to go in terms of development.

A statement from Shamrock Rovers said: “Much has been spoken of our commitment to youth and we firmly believe that the development of young football players ingrained with the clubs DNA from a very early age is the foundation of how we build.

“Our Academy Director Shane Robinson and Head of Coaching Stephen Bradley now have structures in place that allow our young players receive the very best football education.

“A key role identified in our planning work and central to our new structure is a Sporting Director of Shamrock Rovers F.C. and today we are delighted to announce Stephen McPhail as our Sporting Director.”

Speaking on his appointment as Shamrock Rovers Sporting Director Stephen McPhail said:  “When I was first approached by the Board a few weeks ago to see if I may be interested in taking up the role of Sporting Director I was hugely impressed by what they had to say.

“We’ve had many conversations since our initial meeting and I’ve found the clubs vision moving forward to be extremely exciting and, in many respects, ground breaking for a professional club in this country.

“With all this in mind I felt compelled to take the club up on its offer and I am really looking forward to getting started. My aim is to help improve every facet of Shamrock Rovers for its future success.”