New Parkmore coach Paul Jeffries.By Glen Atwell
PARKMORE Pirates have appointed Paul Jeffries as senior coach for season 2007.
The former Keysborough coach will replace Southern Football League journeyman Richard Houston as the Pirates prepare to set sail in Division Two.
The club has also appointed Neil Collett as assistant senior coach and Sean Millane as skills and development coach for next season. Parkmore has vowed to return to the ‘grassroots’ of community and bring loyalty back to the Pirate jumper. Parkmore football manager Mike Smyth said the club was not embarking on a money trail and was pleased to announce the Jeffries’ appointment.
“We’re a club that has been through some hard times, and Paul is a coach who has also been through a difficult stage,” Smyth said, referring to Keysborough’s controversial decision to dump Jeffries during this year’s Casey-Cardinia league finals series.
When Houston arrived at Parkmore with chequebook in hand at the start of this year the club was in a situation where it couldn’t say no, but those days are gone, according to Smyth.
“We’ve won a premiership in Division Three and our first goal is to be competitive in Division Two next year,” he said. “We believe that Paul Jeffries is a great coach and can help the Parkmore Pirates continue to rebuild and develop as a community-based football club.”
Jeffries said after he cut ties with Keysborough he questioned whether or not he wanted to coach again, but Parkmore was the type of club with which he wanted to be involved.
“There are some challenges to overcome,” he said.
“Division Two football is good football, but I’m confident the club can rebuild and be successful in the coming years.”
Smyth said he was looking forward to the Parkmore Football Club returning to the glory days of passionate members and dedicated players.
“Something is missing from local football at the moment. We want to bring the grass roots back to the game,” he said.
Smyth said the club was looking forward to working with Jeffries and hoping to see some old Parkmore Pirate fans return to the club.
