Words: Staff Writer
Image: Brisbane Strikers FC

Newly appointed Brisbane Strikers coach, Kevin A’herne-Evans, has stressed that continuing success on the national stage is of paramount importance for him and the club.

Strikers confirmed on Thursday that A’herne-Evans will coach the senior men’s team in the 2015 PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland season.

He replaces Chay Hews in the Strikers hot seat after the club legend stood down to spend more time with his young family following the conclusion of this year’s campaign.

In a statement released by the club, A’herne-Evans said he will look to build on the club’s returns this season that included winning the Canale Travel Cup and advancing to the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 16 where they were defeated by South Australian powerhouse Adelaide City.

“I hope to continue where Chay left off this year,”” A’herne-Evans said.

“They’ve had a good experience in winning the Canale Travel Cup and it’s good when a group of players have had that little bit of a taste of success. It can drive them on to want to achieve more.”

“They had a good Westfield FFA Cup run as well and have had a good look now at that Adelaide City game and said, okay, this is probably where we need to improve.”

“It’s not until you meet that kind of opponent that you actually see where you need to improve, and in what areas, and how you are going to do that as a player and as a coach.”

“From my point of view, coming in, we obviously need to continue on from that make sure that we’re not just representing the club in our region, but doing that on a national scale.”

“A club the size of the Brisbane Strikers – we need to make sure we are in that FFA Cup every year and strengthening the club on a national scale, while still being incredibly mindful of bringing through some really good individuals”.

In announcing the appointment, Strikers Chairman Bruce Atterton-Evans said A’herne-Evans had been at the top of the club’s short list to replace Hews.

“We looked for someone that we thought had the right qualities and philosophies about how we want to proceed into the future, and we thought Kevin had them,” Atterton-Evans said.

“Those philosophies include playing the kind of football that we like to play, promoting youngsters – all the things that the Strikers pride ourselves on."

Strikers Technical Director David Large said A’herne-Evans was a ‘good fit’ to take over from Hews.

“The thing that impresses me is that he is still relatively young and I see him as a very similar coach to Chay in many ways – his mannerisms, his enthusiasm for the game,” Large said.

“In all my talks to him I always recognized that he had a lot of football knowledge, which is something that is very important when you come to coaching at our level, and I think he has the attributes that are going to give us an easy transition from Chay leaving,” Large added.

As a player, A’herne-Evans was Wales Under 21 representative and was contracted to high-profile clubs Leeds United and Cardiff City.

He was joint senior head coach and technical director at Sunshine Coast Fire for the first two seasons of the PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland competition.