Mainland Football is delighted to announce the appointment of Lee Padmore as its new Director of Football. As part of this role Lee will also become Head Coach of the Canterbury United Dragons.

“I’m ecstatic to be given this opportunity”, says Padmore. “I have been clear from the outset that this is the only job in the country that could have pulled me from the Wellington Phoenix” 

After an extensive search - with 76 applicants from more than 25 countries - Mainland Football and Canterbury United are thrilled to have Padmore join the team, guiding the region into the next stage of football development, along with leading the Dragons in the 2019/20 ISPS Handa Premiership. 

Mainland Football CEO Julian Bowden says, “Lee’s values and desire for development of local players and coaches aligns with the outcomes that we are aiming to achieve locally.”

Padmore, who holds an OFC ‘A’ Licence, is no stranger to the region or Canterbury United having previously been an Assistant Coach for the Dragons Youth and Selwyn United’s Director of Football. In 2018, Padmore headed north to the Wellington Phoenix Youth Academy aiming to further his development as a coach.

“I am looking to build on the high-quality work done by Alan Walker, laying the foundations and positioning Mainland as a leading federation.”  

“A focus for me will be to develop the high-performance pathways within the federation, creating products that allow players to stay in the region, and play for the Dragons or Pride. For this we must identify players who show the necessary traits, and have the nature and psychological abilities to be good players.”

Another area of interest highlighted by Padmore is his desire to work with the clubs - who he acknowledges are already largely self-sustainable and delivering high-end products - to improve on their capability, talent development and strategic vision.

Padmore’s appointment follows a comprehensive recruitment process undertaken by Canterbury United’s High-Performance sub-committee and an external recruitment company.

“After a review of operations, it was clear that a greater alignment between the region’s clubs and the teams playing under the Canterbury United banner was required. The appointment today of Lee we know will play a big part in making that outcome a reality.” says Julian Bowden.

With round one of the ISPS Handa Premiership kicking off on the 3rd of November 2019, securing the player roster and support staff will be the priority for Padmore when he takes up the position in the coming weeks.

“That process begins today, Padmore says. “We will put a quality squad together made up of homegrown talent to compete at the highest levels in the national league.”

Article added: Sunday 11 August 2019