Galway United appoint Alan Murphy as under-17 boss

Galway United have appointed former player Alan Murphy as the manager of their under-17 Leaue of Ireland team for the 2017 season.

Murphy was previously manager of the club's under-19 side until 2012, when he left the club to continue his playing career at Mervue United, before returning to the newly-created Galway FC in 2014.

The Mayoman first joined the club in 1998 as a 16-year-old and spent eight years at Terryland before spells with Derry City, Shamrock Rovers and Mervue either side of three further stints wth Galway.

The 35-year-old retired in 2014 as the Tribesmen's second all-time goalscorer with 73 goals, just one behind the record-holder Paul 'Ski' McGee.

“I’m excited to be coming on board, back involved with Galway United,” Murphy told the club's website.

“I’ve always wanted to be involved with the club and this was the perfect opportunity to come back on board.

“It looks like a good structure now with the u15s, u17s, u19s and senior teams, in terms of moving forward and bringing young players through, trying to get them into the first team.

“We’re not just looking at Galway city, but the wider community and region. We’re also looking forward to getting all the various clubs involved. These are exciting times.

“It’s a great opportunity. There’s a huge amount of talent to be tapped in the region.

“In recent years, others have been active in that regard, but we have such good structures in place now I would hope that we would be competing for young players across the whole Connacht region once again.”

Head of Football Development and first team coach Johnny Glynn added: “We’re delighted to have Alan on board. He has developed a great track record in coaching and managing, and has a very good knowledge of all the players in the under-17 age group.

“He’s obviously a well known former Galway United player, has a very good profile for the club and is very, very good at engaging with young people. We’re just delighted to have him on board, a great addition to the club.

“Alan is also very close to completing his UEFA A licence qualification, which is an important part of the criteria to manage in the Under 17 League.”

The under-17 league is set to kick off in March with a full list of fixtures expected to be announced soon.