A FORMER Manchester United academy coach with more than two decades of experience at the club is heading to Jersey to share his knowledge with the Island’s football coaches.
Neil Harris spent 21 years working within Manchester United’s academy, progressing from development centre coach to lead youth development phase coach during his time at Carrington.
The coach, who left United in 2024, worked with a number of players who have since gone on to establish themselves at the highest level, including Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Elanga, Axel Tuanzebe and Kobbie Mainoo.
Now, Harris will bring that experience to Jersey on 2-3 October for an education weekend aimed at local coaches.
The event has been organised by James Scott, Peter Vincenti and Jonny Picot, with Picot’s previous work as a physio at Manchester United providing the link to Harris.
Around 50 local coaches have already signed up, with the event open to coaches across all levels and age groups, including those involved in adult football.
Scott, a local football coach himself, said the opportunity was a rare one for the Island.
“It’s exciting for Jersey,” he said.“It’s been a long time since we’ve managed to get someone over with the coaching knowledge and experience of Neil.
“We want the local coaches on the Island to be sponges for the weekend and hopefully pick up a couple of little golden nuggets they can put into their own coaching.”
The weekend will begin with a classroom-based session at Strive Academy on Friday evening, before Harris takes to the pitch at Haute Vallee on Saturday morning.
The practical session will involve the Jersey Bulls Under-15 squad, giving a group of local youngsters the chance to be coached by someone who spent more than 20 years working within one of the world’s most renowned academy systems.
For Scott, that is an important part of the weekend’s appeal: “It’s great to get him over to Jersey for junior coaches, but it’s good to see that there’s a wide range of coaches from all different age groups, including adult coaches as well,” he said.
“These opportunities and experiences are few and far between in Jersey.”
Harris will cover player and coach development, grassroots and academy football during the two-day event, with Scott particularly keen for coaches to hear how the coach adapted his approach to different players.
That includes learning from his experience with elite youngsters, while also considering the realities of coaching mixed-ability groups in grassroots football.
“He’ll be talking about grassroots as well, and how to coach a more mixed-ability group, which is obviously very much the case a lot of the time when you’re coaching in Jersey,” Scott said.
“I’m sure it will be a valuable experience for coaches on the island, whether they’re new to it, experienced, or just want to pick up a couple of things from the weekend.”
Harris is looking forward to bringing his experience across the Channel.
“I’m really looking forward to coming over to Jersey in October,” he said. “We’ll be discussing everything from player development, coach development, grassroots and academy football and everything in between.
“Hopefully, it can be a really good engaging weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing as many of you there as we can.”
With around 50 coaches already registered, Scott hopes the event can become the start of something bigger for football in Jersey.
“We’re confident it’ll be a success, and hopefully it’s the first of many that we can bring to the Island,” he said.
“There are so many different avenues we can explore with this, and hopefully it’s the first of many coaching and football experiences for Jersey.”
The Friday session takes place at Strive Academy from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, with the Saturday practical session at Haute Vallee from 9am to 11am.
Any readers looking for further information or wishing to sign up can contact jamesscott@jsfootball.je.
