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An upbringing spent in and around the highest tiers of English football gave Owen Coyle Jr a rare edge in pursuing his own coaching career – but he's by no means riding on his dad's coattails.
The namesake son of the former Burnley and Bolton manager had unfettered access to his dad's teams at a time when he was just discovering his own passion for the sport. And two decades later, that education is now starting to crystallise – despite the fact he already has close to a decade of coaching experience already under his belt.
While his dad is now in his 20th year as a first-team manager having rejoined Indian Premier League side Chennaiyin earlier this summer, Coyle Jr has one record under his belt his pa is unlikely to match. That's after spending eight years as first-team coach of England's amputee national team – a role he took on at just 18 years of age – and helping to promote a variation of the sport that deserves a bigger piece of the spotlight.
"I think there’s probably a lot of misunderstanding in the mainstream game, like women’s football, 10 years ago nobody gave it a chance or wanted to spend [the sufficient] time on it," he told Daily Star Sport. "Whereas if you actually invest five, 10 minutes of your time to look [at amputee football] and understand the rules, it’s fascinating. It’s phenomenal within its own right.
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“Is it directly correlated to a male Premier League game? No, it’s not. But there are some similarities and is it amazing in its own right? Absolutely yes, it is."
Amputee football has numerous distinctions from its mainstream cousin, the main ones being that it's only seven-a-side and has 25-minute halves – not to mention the fact every outfielder will have only one lower limb fully intact. Pete Wild – current manager of Barrow – introduced Coyle Jr to the sport while he himself was coaching the team, and the Scot eventually succeeded his mentor in 2014.
Coyle Jr left the role in the summer of 2022 after eight years in charge but still holds a place on the team's committee, a position he'll keep "as long as they’ll have me" and is still adding something to the sport. And while some may feel the game doesn't have the transferrable skills needed to thrive in its 11-a-side counterpart, he couldn't disagree more.
What's your favourite memory from Owen Coyle's spell in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments section below.
“That opportunity to be involved in amputee football for 10 years, to lead people for six or seven years – particularly when I was 19, 20, 21 – it’s invaluable," he continued. "Because I sit here now at 27, but I’ve actually been a leader for 10 years in a high-performance setting.
“And I feel very confident within my ability and skill sets, and if you were to say to me, ‘Owen, tomorrow you’re the head coach of a team’ at any level, I’d be confident I could go and deliver on that really, really well.”
It's not all positive being so closely associated with a man made famous after firing an unlikely Burnley team to the Premier League in his first full season at Turf Moor. While that experience undoubtedly yielded benefits for the emerging talent, he goes on to explain how perceptions of his dad and his coaching methods may unfairly influence opinions of him as he makes his way in the sport.
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There's an unprecedented platform for young coaches to make their mark in the game, with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Will Still and Domenico Tedesco among those examples who have made waves in management without playing to a high level. Asked whether there are advantages to be had from being younger and more adaptive in one's coaching, Coyle Jr replied it "helps in parts" to stay current in an ever-evolving sport, adding he boasts both great differences and similarities to his dad in terms of approach.
Currently studying to gain his UEFA Pro Licence, Coyle Jr is taking the steps necessary to make more of an impact in the mainstream game. He spent last season studying under dad Owen at Queen's Park, where they finished third in the Scottish Championship before just missing out on promotion via a 4-3 play-off final defeat to Partick Thistle.
The 27-year-old was also promoted to the role of reserves coach after impressing early on with the club's youth teams. And there was a period where he and his dad were quite literally eating, sleeping and breathing football as cohabitants in his home city of Glasgow.
“Me and my dad genuinely are the best of friends," Said Coyle with an undeniable admiration. "So living together was very much just speaking, talking, watching football regularly. We’d get up and travel to training together, have dinner, sit and watch a game, potentially go play five-a-side, then come back and repeat the next day.
“So it was football 24/7, but it was brilliant.”
There are certainly worse jobs out there, though he did clarify they weren't left completely to their own devices: “Mum came up every now and then to keep us in check, make sure we’re still living and breathing!”
It was under Coyle Sr that Burnley made their way back to the top tier of English football for the first time in 33 years, while his son was in his early teenage years and had regular contact with the squad. However, it was a much grander name of the coaching industry whom Coyle Jr had an unexpected brush with in August 2009 after Robbie Blake's famous free-kick downed Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in their first Premier League outing at Turf Moor.
"[After full-time] my dad said, ‘Go in the office, there’s too much going on here,'" recalled Coyle. "So I’m sat there watching Sky Sports News, just replays of the game with a can of Irn Bru, obviously chuffed to bits but probably hiding it a little bit. My dad said he’s going to do the media, so I’m sat in this room. Next minute the door knocks, and Sir Alex walks in.
"And I’m only 13 or 14, not really knowing how to respond. Knowing his team’s just been beat 1-0, knowing he’s quite a fiery character. So I’m looking at him eyes wide open, and you can clearly tell I was young and in shock. And he asked, “Do you know where the manager is, son?’ And I was stumbling and stuttering and said, ‘My dad’s just up doing the media.’
“And he said, ‘Your dad’s the manager?’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ Next minute he comes in and plonks himself on the seat. He said, ‘He’ll only be five minutes, I’ll just wait right here.'"
Famous for his hairdryer treatment of players and officials alike, one might have forgiven Ferguson for feeling somewhat frosty after suffering a surprise loss at lowly Burnley. But Coyle Jr's experience couldn't have been more different.
He added: “So I’m sat there in silence watching Sky Sports News, Robbie Blake’s free-kick is flying into the top corner on the screen. And he turned around to me and asked, ‘What did you think of the game?’ That just put me in a whole world of problems. I’ve had the best experience of my life, seeing my dad’s team beat Manchester United!
“I just kind of mumbled, I don’t even know what I said to him. And he just sat there and spoke to me: ‘What a team your dad’s got, what a team Burnley are, delighted for how he’s done, obviously not happy with my boys.’ And he just really made me feel at ease and comfortable. My dad came in, and as soon as he saw I was sat with him, he told me, ‘Right, you, out the door.’”
As far as footballing educations go, learning how to conduct one's self in defeat doesn't get a lot better. And although Coyle Jr is taking a very unique path into the sport, those lessons may yet produce an academic mind ready to make use of an already impressive résumé.
- Premier League
- Bolton Wanderers FC
- Blackburn Rovers FC
- Sir Alex Ferguson
- Manchester United FC
- Burnley FC
- Exclusives
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