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UEFA Pro Coach and Professional Football Manager.  

Experienced at the highest level, including as Head Coach of the Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone National Football Teams.  

European (UEFA), American (NSCAA) and university qualified, with a record of elite player development across America, Africa and Europe.

 

News & Reviews

Coach McKinstry to lead Gambia National Team

Coach McKinstry to lead Gambia National Team

Coach McKinstry appointed as Head Coach of Gambia Scorpions (25 May 2024).  Read More
McKinstry leads Gor Mahia to Kenyan Premier League title

McKinstry leads Gor Mahia to Kenyan Premier League title

Coach McKinstry and Gor Mahia crowned Champions of the Kenyan Premier League (25 June 2023).  Read More
Coach McKinstry - REVIEW: 20 Years of Coaching - Highlights and Key Stats

REVIEW: 20 Years of Coaching - Highlights and Key Stats

March 2021 saw Coach McKinstry pass his 20-year milestone in football coaching.  Over that time he has improved the win-performance of a number of teams Read More
Coach McKinstry delivers 2 wins in every 3 games for Uganda cranes

REVIEW: Coach McKinstry and the Uganda Cranes

Winning 2 in every 3 games played, Coach McKinstry delivered Uganda their strongest 'win' and 'undefeated' rate in over 15 years (May 2021).  Read More
Coach McKinstry: Rwanda - Review

REVIEW: Moving the Rwanda 'Amavubi' to New Heights.

Review: Coach McKinstry led Rwanda to their best ever performance in a major competition (Qtr-Finals of CHAN) and finished runner up in CECAFA. (January 2017). Read More
Coach McKinstry, working with the Leone Stars.  Pic © Darren McKinstry - more at www.johnnymckinstry.com/leonestars

REVIEW: Coach McKinstry's Successes & Challenges with the Leone Stars

Within just 16 months Coach McKinstry had led Sierra Leone to their highest ever FIFA World and African rankings (August 2014). Read More
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  • Uganda National Team

    Coach McKinstry was Head Coach of the Uganda national team Sep 2019 - Apr 2021.
    Coach McKinstry delivered a WIN from 2 in every 3 games and went undefeated in over 8 in every 10 games played. He led Uganda to win CECAFA 2019, doing so by winning every game they played. In AFCON, under his management Uganda were the only of 48 nations to concede zero goals from open play.
    Read More
  • Rwanda National Team

    As Head Coach of the Rwanda national team (2015-16), Coach McKinstry led Rwanda to new heights.
    This included securing Rwanda’s best ever performance in a major competition (Quarter-Finals of the 2016 CAF Nations Championship); finishing runner up in CECAFA 2015; and other key achievements.
    Read More
  • Sierra Leone National Team

    Coach McKinstry was Head Coach of the Sierra Leone national team from April 2013 - September 2014.
    Within just 16 months Coach McKinstry had led Sierra Leone to their highest ever FIFA World and African rankings - 7th in Africa and 50th in the World (August 2014), an achievement hailed by FIFA.com as "remarkable".
    Read More
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Coach McKinstry with FIFA delegation in Cairo

Coach McKinstry has spent 2 days in Cairo with selected Africa Coaches reviewing the World Cup 2014.  

 

As Fifa.com reported:

"The top technicians of African football are gathering in Cairo for a two-day conference to analyse the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil."

Coach McKinstry with Finnish national coach Mixu Paatelainen in CairoHead coaches and technical directors of all African national teams were invited by FIFA and CAF to analyse football’s flagship event from a technical perspective.

The aim of the conference was to learn from the World Cup and channel its success into football development at all levels around the world.

Alongside experts from FIFA’s Technical Study Group as well as FIFA’s head of refereeing Massimo Busacca and a representative from IFAB, the participants discussed the latest trends observed in Brazil 2014.

Participants also reviewed a range of technical aspects of the game such as medical matters and the introduction of GLT and the vanishing spray.

FIFA WOrld Cup Review in CairoThe conferences is considered a key platform to complement and further develop the report on the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil recently published by FIFA’s Technical Study Group.

 

 

Quotes: What the media say

  • McKinstry has experienced much more than the average coach his age. His career has gone from strength to strength, starting in Northern Ireland and England, then via America to West Africa eventually.

    Read More
    Damien Edgar Backpage Football
  • The figures do not lie. The six matches on McKinstry’s watch have been World Cup or Cup of Nations qualifiers. They have lost one.

    Read More
    the guardian
  • McKinstry made an impressive start, losing just one of his first six matches and leading Sierra Leone into the top 50 of Fifa's world rankings, above Northern Ireland, the Republic, Cameroon and Senegal.

    Read More
    Ben Smith BBC Sport
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