Cale to ‘sheikh-up’ Qatar football

Well known local football figure Dr Andy Cale is to swap the green grass of Mid Wales for the desert sands of Qatar after landing a top job with the country organising the 2022 World Cup.

Welshpool-based Cale, currently the English Football Association’s head of player development and research, leaves next week to become the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee’s Senior Football Development Manager.

The former manager of The New Saints and Newtown has been responsible for research and development into coach education and player development at the FA since 2000 and had specific oversight of all aspects of sports psychology support and course design, performance analysis and international team administration services.

His role has also involved being assistant national coach to England Under-19s and mentor to the senior England international coaches.

But now he is being tasked with transforming the game in one of the world’s richest countries. His new role will focus on both the elite game, in terms of improving skills and governance, and among non-elite segments by increasing interest and participation. This will include the women’s game, special needs and at grassroot level.

“My job will be to extend the reach of football locally and improve the competiveness of Qatar’s national teams and clubs in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and beyond,” said Cale.

“The Supreme Committee will develop and support strategies designed to increase interest and participation in the game and it will be my role to see this implemented.”

Cale, who designed a higher education undergraduate degree programme alongside a football academy when he was director of higher education at Walford College from 1997-98, is a qualified sports  psychologist. 

He admits he is stepping into “the unknown” but couldn’t resist the temptation of being involved in the World Cup project.

“It’s an exciting time for the game in the Middle East and Qatar’s successful bid for the World Cup in 2022 means the country is committed totally to ensuring that a complete footballing infrastructure is in place,” he said.

“What excites me is that in Qatar football is being used as a vehicle for change. It’s going to involve a change to the country’s culture and there is so much to do and so much to learn. 

“I will quickly need to learn the position of football in the country’s culture and in consultation with all the major stakeholders will be developing strategies to increase interest in the game.”

High on his agenda once arriving in the Qatar capital of Doha will be to unite the three existing football bodies, The Qatar FA, The Qatar Stars League and Aspire, which is the academy for sports excellence in the country.

Cale will head a team of 10 managerial staff and will need to recruit quickly with eight vacancies to fill.

He began his career at The English FA as a sports psychologist and assistant coach in 1998 and later became FA Education Advisor before landing the Head of player development role back in 2006.

Prior to that he gained a post graduate doctorate at Loughborough Univeristy in sports psychology, lectured in sports science at Stafford University and worked as player development advisor and sports psychologist at Sheffield United.

Holder of a European Pro Licence, Cale managed Rhyl in their first season in the then League of Wales and went on to lead The New Saints to five Welsh Premier League titles, two as manager and three as head coach.

He was also manager and head coach to the Great Britain World Student Games  team in Japan in 1995 and in Italy in 1997.

He has been involved with the publication of two highly regarded football books. He was co-author of “Momentum In Soccer” with Alistair Higham and Chris Harwood and also edited “The Official FA Guide For Psychology For Football.”