SBC Co-Founder Gary Ireland (see bio) lived throughout Australia and traveled the continent extensively, driving from Darwin to Perth, Canberra to Perth & Sydney to Townsville, as well as residing, attending school and playing soccer in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Sunshine Coast & Darwin. Gary's parents migrated to Australia in 1964 living in Bondi Beach, Sydney, where his father Victor played for Corinthians after a sting at Leeds United. Gary's older brother Simon was born in Coogee Beach, Sydney and Gary's mother still lives in Perth.
Gary was 'discovered' as a player in 1984 on the Gold Coast playing soccer on the beach with his father and younger brother by the Australian National Champion St George Budapest coaching staff, the 'eyes' of the legendary St George Budapest and Australian national team coach Frank Arok. Gary was playing for Twin Towns at the time. Such was the interest of St George Budapest to sign Gary and his brothers, that he immediately moved to Sydney with his family, where the dressing rooms at St George Stadium in Rocklea were converted into living quarters while the club arranged new accommodations.
"Talent can be spotted anywhere; even barefoot on an Aussie beach. Australia has more mileage of beach than any country in the world, but very little 'beach soccer. A visit to Australia’s most popular beach resort, Surfers Paradise, won’t reveal dozens of soccer goalposts that would be found on the Copacabana. Upon returning to Australia in 1986 as a 16 year old, I was playing on the beach on the Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise) with my father and brother. I played 5-6 hours a day. One day 3 older men with legs that looked like they had seen some rigorous exercise in days gone by asked us for a game. Afterwards, they came to our apartment offering me terms to come down to Sydney to play for the Australian Champions St. George Budapest. Initially didn’t realize that two of them were coaches of St. George Budapest and another was a former Hungarian émigré who had played in the Australian leagues after leaving Hungary in 1956. We were offered the first team coach Frank Arok’s home to live in while he was away in Vojvodinia,Yugoslavia on vacation, and were told to come down immediately to start pre-season training, only to find that the keys to the house weren’t available for some unknown reason. Instead of providing us with Franks house (they couldn't find Franks keys apparently), they converted the St. George Budapest dressing room (beds included with paintings on the wall) into accommodations for us. We had a great time living and playing at St George Stadium.....training on the entire field by ourselves and playing in the small sided cage area behind the main stand. It was a soccer Disneyland, aside from not having access to the beach in Surfers Paradise! "
"my dad, ross and I move from christchurch new zealand to the gold coast. simon had left christchurch united and went to play college soccer in the usa at usf with roy wegerle. this is when mike burcul and jim raptis were putting up all the high rises in surfers. we were playing for twin towns and the gold coast rep team. i had just played my first game for gold coast vs brisbane city in a friendly with simon scoring a cracker on a very soggy field".
"i was playing barefoot on northcliffe beach (surfers paradise) with my dad and ross. along came these old guys in speedos (franks hungarian st george budapest assistant joe bednar and the other 2 whose names escape me.) and gold chains asking us for a game. i initially said no but ny dad said ok. they gave me the run around at times. after the game they asked who we played for and invited us to their hotel for 'talks'. they said that frank (arok) sent for us based on joe's report and we drove to sydney a week later to stay at franks house in time for the season- it was around christmas time. st george budapest were australian champions at that time. when we arrived in sydney the house wasnt ready so they cleared out the home dressing room for us to live in. we had the entire stadium to ourselves with multiple choice of showers and urinals! on the dressing room walls and corridors were pictures of hungarian and croatian freedom fighters carrying weapons and grenades. wish i took some photos. it was quite a surreal experience for a 16 year old kid. i though it might be the normal way of doing things. i was wrong. looking back, what a terrific experience it was! we also trained outside in the cage area out the back with planes flying very ow over our heads as the stadium was at the end of sydneys kingsford smith airport. joe got us a house to stay in just up the road from the stadium.... it was infested with cockroaches and hadn't been lived in for years but they did their best. we started training with st george after frank returned and it was quite an experience."
Gary opted not to remain in Sydney and returned to Queensland where he played for the Gold Coast Men's Select team vs. Brisbane City at only 17 years of age after playing locally for Twin Towns Soccer Club senior team. During this time he trained constantly on the beach, against parking garage walls and local field where he and his brother Simon made regular use of the 'hurdles' on the local park. On their return again from Europe hey would return to their training environment and cite this as being the main reason for their continued development.
"We used to spend 4 hours a day on the beach and against the wall even when we were playing for Queensland. I think many of my teammates were 'too professional' or 'too mature' for this and felt above it. They were wrong of course. Our sports science was simple. Exhaust yourself and then jump in the ocean to cool down and go again! I could play 2 games in a row back then if needed. Most teammates were only training 3-4 times a week and did run on their own. There was no sports science and no-one telling you that you were doing too much or too little. So many players nowadays wont ever learn to push themselves out of their comfort zone or to develop resolve on their own. This 'hardening' had its lonely and often unrewarding moments but it builds character. I see kids today posting more on social and looking at apps more than they actually train. The argument that they are more efficient nowadays due to directed and curated bespoke content is garbage. You still need to get out and do it!. Guided discovery doesn't happen without self discovery. You cant replace 'self discovery."
He later played for Brisbane Lions Reserves before moving to Europe and USA where he was recruited to several USA colleges on scholarships. After declining to play on a full soccer scholarship FDU in New Jersey and Boca Raton in Florida Gary decided to return to London until he move to Dubai assist legendary technical coach Wiel Coerver and Michel Mommertz as a demonstrator of his material at leading UAE club Al Wasl.
Due to Gary's already ingrained discipline, drive and focus on self practice, added to material taught from by his father and reinforced and accelerated by Wiel's influence, Gary was signed by Queensland (Australia) club Mt Gravatt in 1988/89 and quickly became one of the brightest young soccer talents in Australia. After playing only one club game he gained the immediate attention of Queensland State Team coach Bruce Stowell and was selected to represent Queensland, becoming the youngest player on the squad, starting all 3 games on Queensland's tour of Fiji against their national team. He was also selected to play against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City in the Super 6 Tournament. For the duration of his time in Queensland Gary received the best player ratings of all players in the State league according to 'Go Soccer' the QSF official magazine, and was ranked fittest player on the State team. When Mount Gravatt ran out of money the club didn't honor the contract and failed to pay travel expenses and wages. Consequently Gary and his brother stopped playing for Mt Gravatt and Queensland.
Gary introduced Wiel Coerver’s material to Australia in 1988 where he brokered the sale of ‘Coerver 1-2-3’ video series between Philips Lighting Company and Australian 'Mr Soccer’ Les Murray at SBSTV in 1989 which profoundly impacted Australian soccer development. At the request of Director of Coaching of New South Wales Soccer Federation David Lee (coach of Harry Kewell). Gary and his brother Simon conducted a coaching presentation with permission from Wiel Coerver to State and club coaches and administrative staff at the New South Wales Soccer Federation (NSWSF) headquarters at Parklea. Bernie Mandic was in the audience that day. After Gary, Simon and Victor introduced Wiel's material to NWSSF and SBSTV Coerver Coaching formalized their agreement with both organizations. (note: Gary was never part of 'Coerver Coaching' business. He was, however, personal assistant to Wiel Coerver with Michel Mommertz at Al Wasl in Dubai).
"I introduced you to the coaches at Parklea (NSWSF) in 1988. Jim Selby called and said take a look at these guys. Les Murray also did a show on SBS. I had the old tapes but first time anyone came to talk and demonstrate was you and your brother Simon" David Lee
"You'll be pleased to know that many topplayers have been produced by the method in those years, Harry Kewell of Leeds and the new Aussie sensation Brett Emerton among them. You can give yourselves a big pat on the back. David Lee- at least he recognized the beauty of the Coerver method". Les Murray
April 17th, 2003 telephone conversation with Bernie Mandic: “I recall when you and your brother introduced the Coerver material through the Sydney Morning Herald article by Mike Cockerill". "Coerver is great if it’s started at before 5 but at 12 when HK & Emmo were almost set templates it is negligible. A player is almost unchangeable after 14. They keep refining & honing what they know" Bernie Mandic agent of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka.
Gary featured in Australian Croatian coach Dusan Purac Soccer Skills video (it was the 80's!) which included training footage of legends Savicevic, Bobin and Pancev at Dinamo Zagreb before they moved to AC Milan. (see min Minute 9:34:10:04)
Gary has been a source of information and connectivity for Australian soccer maintaining extensive connections with the playing and coaching communities as well as on the commercial side of the game as well as financial and business networks. He has been a 'go-to' contact for Australian players, coaches, organizations for over 30 years, as well as a trusted source for US college coaches who trust his eye and opinion when scouting players.
Gary represented Australian Australian 'Matildas' National Team and FIFA Coach Mentor Tom Sermanni's in contract negotiations with NWSL team and Nigerian national team. Gary has also organized numerous international tours to professional clubs as well as USA colleges such as designing managing and leading the 2007 NCAA USA National College Champions North Carolina Women's Soccer Tour against Australia and New Zealand Women's National Teams and Queensland Institute of Sport. See link to tour
Gary was recognized by 'Advance', the Australian global business network spanning 40 countries with 1 million Australians abroad, as being one of the ‘Advance 50’ current and emerging leaders honored at the Silicon Valley Summit in May 2012 for their contributions to the commercialization of Australian innovation dedicated to assisting Australian innovators, entrepreneurs and start-ups to commercialize and globalize.
Gary is owner and co-founder of Dynamic Soccer (Northern California) and Eclipse Academy (Southern California) where he trains players to prepare players for US college soccer and is the co-founder and owner of Soccerbook Consulting and global football network Soccerbook.com as well as founder and director of charity organization The Soccerfund. He sits on several sports-tech boards and advises VC and Angel investors on sports properties and technology investments and has an extensive network with Silicon Valley technology leaders. Gary's University of Liverpool Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) network of key decision makers in football governing bodies, technology, media, entertainment, sponsors and events at all commercial and administrative levels adds to his already extensive network.
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