Football West News

Steven McGarry has joined ECU Joondalup. Photo: Getty Images

Former Perth Glory midfielder Steven McGarry has joined PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues WA side ECU Joondalup for the 2016 campaign.

McGarry, who played for Consolidated Energy Amateur Premier League champions Gwelup Croatia last season, has also agreed to an assistant coaching role along with another newcomer, David Tough.

The pair will provide support to Head Coach Dale McCulloch.

McGarry is excited at the prospect of playing in the PS4 NPLWA at the same time as continuing in coaching following success as an assistant with the NPLWA U20 league-winning Perth Glory team last season.

“I’ve still got the fire in the belly and I feel fit so I want to play as many games as I can,” he said.

“It’s a massive challenge and it’s going to be a big job ahead with a lot of work. But hopefully we can make a statement.”

McCulloch said McGarry’s signing was vital for the club.

“We played a number of our younger players last season, but at times we lacked the experience,” he said. “With Steven coming in, he will no doubt give us a lift but he will also lead these youngsters on and off the pitch during the season.”

McGarry said he was drawn to ECU for more than just on field reasons, highlighting a desire to translate the club’s reputation for developing young players into NPL success.

“They’ve had a bit of a different formula to other clubs,” McGarry said. “They get good kids and look after them, nurture them and develop them and they’ve got a fantastic reputation at that level.

“But they want the whole club to be successful, not just developing juniors, and that means doing better in the NPL.”

He said the new coaching team had quickly established an understanding of how to make improvements in 2016.

“Dale’s the manager and myself and Toughy will be there to assist in the coaching,” he said.

“On the field, I’m sure Dale would want to tap into some of the things that I know coming from a professional environment.

“Dale’s been at ECU for a long time. He’s been a player, captain and manager and he’s very passionate about the club.”

McGarry said it had been a tough decision to leave Gwelup.

“We had a great season and it’s a great club with fantastic people there,” he said. “I made a lot of good friends at Gwelup and I’m sure they’ll go on to bigger and better things.”

ECU also announced the return of defender Shane Pickering, who played for Inglewood United last season, and the appointment of Mark Scanlan as High Performance Manager.