Central Coast Mariners Football Club are delighted to announce that Reggie Davani will become the new Youth Boys Technical Director.
Reggie arrives at the Mariners with an impressive resume, both as a player and coach, and is somebody that the club have admired for a long time.
Davani will take up a joint role that will include coaching at Central Coast Sports College, solidifying our partnership with the school, as well as at the Mariners where he will work to align our academy with our first team philosophy.
Reggie’s background in Player Development goes hand in hand with the Mariners philosophy of nurturing young talent, whether that be progressing players into our A-League Men’s team, or on to opportunities further afield, such as Europe.
Working with our male 13 to 18-year-old players, Reggie will help to continue our impressive production line and work closely with Mark Jackson to ensure first team processes and philosophies filter down into the Academy.
As a player, Davani began his youth career with Brisbane Lions and went on to represent Queensland Lions. In 1998, when playing for Ipswich Knights, he received his first International call-up to Papua New Guinea.
He went on to play 17 times for his country, scoring 13 goals which to this day sees him hold the goalscoring record for Papua New Guinea.
Upon retiring in 2014, Davani moved into coaching with the Papua New Guinea International team, his first major coaching role which saw him assist the team through a World Cup Cycle, leaving that post in 2017.
Reggie then became assistant manager of Western Pride in Queensland, where he worked with Dan Hall and Dylan Wenzel-Halls who he now reunites with on the Central Coast.
For the last four years, Davani has worked for Football Queensland as Development Ambassador, working on Player Pathways as well as Coach and Player Development, perfectly lining him up for this next step with the Mariners, an opportunity that has been in the making for a while, he explained:
It’s been something that’s been ongoing. Matty [Simon] approached me a while back and I have always been interested but the timing wasn’t right. This time around it has fit in well and I just felt like it was a good time for a new challenge for myself.
“I believe in what the club is doing and I love to be a part of it, that was the main drive to be here and I’m appreciative of Matty and the rest of the staff for bringing me here.”
The big thing for me is the environment here, everyone gets along and wants to be better. Everyone chips in to make this a positive and high performing environment.
“Hopefully I can bring some of my experience with coaching Internationally, at Federation level and supporting young players – that’s what excites me the most, helping players to the next level.”
“Seeing how Jacko operates is something I am really looking forward to just observing. I met Mark a couple of months ago and he explained what he’s looking to do and how I fit in.”
For me, the responsibility of ensuring his vision and philosophy comes across to the whole club is something I am looking forward to.
Central Coast Mariners Sporting Director Matt Simon is pleased to have Reggie onboard, excited for him to bring his experience to the Central Coast.
“Reggie is someone who has experienced so much in football as not only a player, but also as a coach at both International and domestic levels,” he said.
“We look forward to Reggie helping our next generation of Mariners Isuzu UTE A-League players continue their development on the Coast, helping to align the Mariners way across our entire academy.”
