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Stuart McLaren is one of few Australian football coaches who have successfully forged a coaching career on the international stage. After a professional playing career, Stuart has gone onto to coach such clubs as Brisbane Strikers (NSL), North Queensland Fury (A-League), Stirling Albion FC (Scottish League One) as well as being Manager of Celtic FC Men’s U18s team, where he successfully won the FA Youth Cup for the first time in 6 years. Stuart has also worked with the Scottish Football Association (FA) in various roles including Head Coach for the Men’s U16s Scottish National Team. This is a never heard before deep dive into someone who was a product of the “Golden Generation” of Australian players coming out of the AIS system who has since gone on to build a successful coaching career in one of the most competitive and unforgiving environments of European Football. 

Highlights from the episode…

• What it was like being part of the famous AIS youth system and how he navigated moving away from home and dealing with the challenges of a professional environment while only 16 years old.
• “Perser-vilience”!
• Stuart shares his move to the Scottish first division and speaks about the highs and lows of playing in Europe. 
• He then moved to Hong Kong and shares the unconventional practices and unbelievable events he experienced while playing in Asia.
• What he learnt as a player and how he instills this now with his players as a coach.
• Be genuine in your approach. Being genuine is about being “consistent”
• Stuart shares how he is able to maintain high standards while still creating an environment that is enjoyable. 
• Why Stuart chose to leave Australia while his stock was high after making a successful transition from playing to coaching.
• The challenges of working in high performance sport and maintaining a strong family network. 
• Having moved to Europe with no job, Stuart candidly shares how he navigated this tough period of uncertainty in his career.
• How Stuart achieved his first head coaching role in the UK with Loughborough University. 
• What led to securing a role with Scottish FA and going on to coach some of the best young footballers in the country.
• Being involved in youth football at the highest level, Stuart shares what we should consider when developing Aussie youth players to excel in Europe.
• What characteristics he’s seen in good and not so good high performance staff.  
• Staying in your lane and where I’ve got it wrong. 
• Working at Celtic FC and the effect Ange Postecoglou had on players, staff and club.
• Is there things football can learn from sports like AFL and NRL, such as extra long contracts for players and coaches?

People mentioned: 

• Pete Fowler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpetefowler/?originalSubdomain=au
• Chris Cushion: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/schools/sport-exercise-health-sciences/people/chris-cushion/
• Eric Ramsay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ramsay-133580131/?originalSubdomain=uk

Stuart McLaren contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-mclaren-b760a933/details/experience/
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_McLaren

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: [email protected]

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.