About Stephen Constantine

Many football coaches fall into the profession only when faced with the prospect of retiring from playing. Stephen Constantine, however, found his future calling while still a player, after standing in to lead a couple of training sessions for the New York Freedoms' youth team at the age of 26.

"I instantly realised that once I stopped playing, the only thing I wanted was to go into coaching full-time." The Englishman immediately started studying for a youth coaching licence in the US.

His foresight proved timely, as a serious knee injury the following year brought his days on the field to an end. By this time, though, he'd earned the USSF C Licence and could focus solely on coaching.

Throughout his career, Constantine has shown an insatiable thirst for any knowledge that could benefit his teams, pursuing numerous coaching qualifications and licences.

Apart from earning the UEFA Professional Licence in 2004, he also attended the seminar to launch the new Futuro iii coaching courses in Germany in July of that same year, one of 16 managers invited by FIFA .

In February 2001, he was asked to join the Panel of FIFA Instructors, making him one of the youngest members at just 38. He also holds an FA Psychology Award and an FA Coach Educator's Certificate.

More importantly, he has successfully put what he has learnt into action with several club and national sides. It's a strategy that has helped him lift teams from relative obscurity to unprecedented triumphs, over and over again.

Millwall Football Club, 2005-2006

My season in the English Championship was a huge experience, but I would be lying if I said that all of it was positive. It was mid September when I got the call to become Millwall's first team coach. The role was new to me. I had up to this point always been the one calling the shots and not being able to do so was at times difficult. Millwall were struggling and had not managed to win after seven league games.

With several key players leaving, and many others wanting to leave, it really was an uphill task trying to keep them afloat. They were already onto their second manager of the season by the time I arrived. The first, lasted all of 32 days and was sacked without taking charge of a single competitive game. After going seven games without a win, his replacement , decided he needed some help and I got the call.

I had ten days before my first game. We focused on defending and getting behind the ball. During that period we also managed to bring in a few new players on loan, and in my first game away to Wolves we
won 2-1. That was followed by another 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday. It was the start of a seven game unbeaten run. It was a terrific turnaround, and the players responded magnificently. But it was then that the problems surrounding the club started to emerge. The chairman resigned, while the manager decided he wanted to leave. By Christmas, the manager got his wish, as he was sacked, and we were onto our third manager of the season.

In the second half of the season, results improved, but we lacked any real quality, especially up front, which was to prove our downfall. Relegation was inevitable. However, I would like to say that the
Millwall fans were terrific, and will never forget the way they treated me. It was a great disappointment that I could not have done for them.

It was also a fascinating experience, one from which I learned a great deal, and one which I'm sure will, in its own way, prove invaluable to me in future.

India, 2002-2005

As National Manager of India, Constantine strengthened the football organisation by concentrating on developing the youth teams and rousing a stagnating senior side. He was instrumental in improving facilities, physical training methods and the mental approach to the game from the moment he joined the team in 2002.

"When I arrived...things needed shaking up. There was also a culture of complacency -- once you were in the squad, you were safe for five years. I've been happy to drop some of the old guard and not afraid to pick 17-year-olds if they are good enough." (When Saturday Comes, Aug 2003)

The results speak for themselves. In his first tournament, Constantine guided the U-23s to victory in the 2002 LG Cup Final against Vietnam's full national side. It was India's first trophy of any significance outside of South Asia in more than 40 years and the start of a three-year commitment to taking the national squad to the next level in every aspect.

The improvements were again apparent at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, where India were only denied a place in the last eight by a single goal. Constantine then took the U-18s to the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland and on to Wales to compete for the Ian Rush trophy, which they won by upsetting Botafogo of Brazil 3-0 in the final.

Although India failed to qualify for the 2004 Asian Cup, the senior team shone in a silver medal-winning performance in the inaugural Afro Asian Games, with victories over Rwanda and Zimbabwe (then 85 places ahead of India in the world rankings) along the way, losing the final by just 1-0 to Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, both the U-17 and U-20 teams reached the AFC Youth Championships in 2004.

As a result, Indian football has steadily earned greater recognition and respect, both within the country and abroad. In November 2003, Constantine was named AFC Manager of the Month, an award he dedicated to his players.

While not every contest ends favourably -- losses to Pakistan and Bangladesh in the 2003 SAF Cup and defeats in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers (after an initial win against Singapore and a 0-0 draw in their last match with Oman, Japan ultimately winning the group) among the more disappointing -- there is little doubt within the squad of the progress made during his tenure.

"Where was Indian football three years ago? He has come in and given us confidence, spirit and the will to win. We owe him a lot. It will be a disaster should he leave." -- S. Venkatesh, Mahindra United Midfielder

Nepal, 1999-2001

This sentiment is echoed by players and staff of previous teams as well. Prior to his India appointment, Constantine made his mark, and his reputation, by turning a Nepali national side that had not won two consecutive matches in the previous five years into a football "fairytale". With only seven weeks to get the team into shape for the regional Olympiad, the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games of 1999/2000, he had his work cut out for him.

"There was a rabble of 35 players training on a field with a terrible pitch and no nets in the goals," recalls Constantine. "And each of the 35 players was wearing different coloured shirts and socks. There was no physio or doctor, the diet...was rice and dhal (lentils) three times a day. There was no organisation, no planning. It was like Hackney Marshes -- but this was the national team." (Four Four Two, Sept 2000)

Nevertheless, with just under two months' preparation, the team managed to qualify from their group. To reinforce his players' growing sense of unity as they continued to perform well, and to demonstrate solidarity with the team, Constantine wore the Himalayan kingdom's traditional costume for the semi-final. The gesture was not lost on them or their countrymen, who were by now ecstatic over their national team's success. The Nepalese, beyond all expectations, went on to reach the final where they lost to Bangladesh 1-0.

"Everybody was very happy when we saw him in the national dress...Our boys' performance in the SAF Games was excellent. They played very well, even in the final. This is really a great honour and a great moment in their lives." -- Ganesh Thapa, President, All Nepal Football Association, (Football Asia, Mar 2000)

For their history-making efforts, the entire squad and staff were recognised by the late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev at the royal palace, where Constantine was awarded the Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Baahu (the Nepalese equivalent of the British OBE), the highest honour the country may bestow on a foreigner.

As if that wasn't enough, Constantine went on to lead the U-16s to the finals of the Asian Youth Championship in Vietnam that September, the first time that any Nepalese national side, at any level, had ever qualified for the finals of any such competition.

After his decision to leave Nepal in 2001, due to a political power struggle within the ANFA that was hurting the game, he returned to the UK. Accepting the assistant directorship of Bournemouth AFC's youth academy, he enjoyed a successful stint in charge of the Cherries' U-16s.

Cyprus, 1992-1999

While his time in Nepal may sound the stuff of fairytales, the triumphs were no fluke. Similar events can be traced to his early coaching years in Cyprus, where he also spent part of his childhood.

In mid-1992, Constantine left the US to become assistant coach for Apollon Limassol's U-21s, guiding them to second place in the league and runners-up in the cup. Several of the youngsters he worked with went on to represent Cyprus at senior national level.

But it was during the 1994-95 season as manager/coach for struggling 4th-division side Achilleas that Constantine first demonstrated his skill in changing a team's fortunes. Achilleas, sitting one off the bottom of the table, won their first nine games under him and avoided relegation in the last match of the season. Not content to rest on that success, he helped the club knock out 1st and 2nd division opponents in the Cyprus Cup the following year, a first for Cypriot football.

Constantine then steered 2nd-division Apep FC back into the 1st division, after starting off as reserve team/manager coach then being named first-team manager eight games into the season.

By 1996, he was with 1st-division outfit Ael FC where, as Director of Youth, he coached the U-16s to win the Youth Championship and the National Cup, going unbeaten in both campaigns. It was the first double in the club's history.

"His determination and sheer persistence working with our Youth sides provided the players with an invaluable education that will stay with them throughout their careers. The fact that a number of these players went on to represent the first team and their national side speaks volumes abou Stephen's qualities as a coach." Dimitris Solomonides, President, AEL FC.

Coaching in Cyprus gave Constantine the opportunity to work alongside some excellent coaches as well as the chance to watch some of Europe's top sides play in UEFA competitions. During those years he earned the FA Advanced and UEFA A Licences. Then in 1999, in order to obtain the USSF A Licence, he returned to the US, the place where he first caught the coaching bug ten years earlier.

His first major position, in 1989, was as assistant coach at Post University in Long Island, New York. While still in that job, and just 29, he earned his USSF B Licence and also became Director of Youth for the New York Freedoms, taking their U-16s to a divisional title and winning a trophy that would be the first of many.