Stuart McLaren has left his role as Northern Ireland senior women's coach to take up a role with FIFA.
McLaren, who joined Northern Ireland Women boss Tanya Oxtoby's backroom team after a stint working with her at the Scotland senior women's side, confirmed his departure after the 1-0 UEFA Women’s Nations League victory against Romania last night.
He explained: "Tanya and I had known each other for nearly eight years and my first experience of working with her for Scotland was a really positive one. Her knowledge of the game and in particular the WSL players was excellent.
"Once Tanya took the managerial post at Northern Ireland she made the call to me and we linked back up. To have the chance to come in and be a part of what Tanya was trying to build meant it was a quick and easy decision to make.
"During my time here I've seen real collaboration across all parts of the senior women's set-up. There is clarity and structure. Every camp we evolve and look to learn how we can do things better.
“That input comes from the players too and they give honest feedback about what they want to see finetuned in order for us to maintain that high performance environment.”
McLaren’s new role is with the world governing body's talent development scheme where he will be a Talent Coach working alongside the Ghanaian FA to help improve the African country’s talent ID system.
He said: "It's an exciting role and a great opportunity but, naturally, I'm sad to leave Northern Ireland. There are so many highlights but Lauren Wade's goal against Croatia at the National Football Stadium (October 2024) sticks out. What a goal and what a moment.
“My message to all the aspiring footballers out there wanting to follow in the footsteps of Lauren, Jackie or Joely and the rest of the team is to get out there and get the boots on. There has never been a better time to get involved in women's football."
The 49-year-old, who was born in Scotland but grew up in Australia, played for the likes of Stirling Albion, Brisbane Strikers, Queensland Roar and Perth Glory during a 15-year playing career.
His coaching career began in 2003 when he was player-coach at Brisbane Strikers (two spells). He was assistant coach at North Queensland Fury before moving to the UK in 2011 to take up a role as head coach at Loughborough University.
Since 2014 he has managed Stirling Albion, Scotland’s Under-16s and Scotland Women (coach and interim manager). He joined the Northern Ireland backroom team at the start of 2024.
McLaren bade farewell to the Northern Ireland Women players, Oxtoby and the other members of her backroom team following last night’s game at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.
