Words: Staff Writers
Image: Brisbane Strikers FC

It has been 21 years since Sean Lane last coached senior football, but the new Brisbane Strikers gaffer is ready to step up in his new role in 2017.

Lane’s only previous senior coaching appointment came in 1995 when he took control of then Victorian Premier League outfit Preston Lions in a caretaker capacity.

Since then Lane’s coaching has been in the junior and youth ranks, while also taking the assistant coaching role under previous Strikers coach Kevin A’herne-Evans through Strikers recently completed Premiership winning campaign.

Lane concedes replacing his predecessor will be difficult, but he is ready to give it a mighty shake.

“Kevin was an absolute gem to work with, a really clever coach.  He was brilliant on game day and I learned loads from him,” Lane said.

“The challenge for me now is to continue the good work and I’ve said this to the boys I have already spoken to – we’re looking to continue the success that Kevin’s brought to the club.”

“Yes, it is daunting to follow Kevin.  But for me, you’re at the best club in Queensland outside of the Roar and these opportunities don’t get presented to you too often.”

“So you either have to back yourself in, and believe in your ability to continue the good work, or you look at the downside and say I’ll never replicate what’s happened and walk away.  But that just isn’t my style”.

“There is still a lot of unfinished business. Kevin and I, and (technical director) David Large, were very disappointed we didn’t kick on and win the NPL Finals Series.”

“We were unlucky down in Sydney.  We could have gone better there and we had the opportunity to beat Melbourne City (in the Westfield FFA Cup).”

“So there are certainly things we can try to improve on.  But none of those things come without good players, hard work and a real strong set of core values and beliefs that the players will buy into.”

Lane’s playing career in his native England saw him sign his first professional contract with fourth-division Hereford United at just 16 before being snapped up by second division Derby County.

However, Lane learned the hard way about the vagaries of elite football and found himself on the outer only two games into his Derby career.

 “I got pulled off at half time. I didn’t know the reason why at the time, but it transpired that the coach thought I’d pulled out of a tackle and he never spoke to me again.  I copped the heave-ho from Derby shortly thereafter,” Lane recalled.

However, his misfortune could prove a handy lesson for those young talents coming through the Strikers ranks and aspiring to the game’s upper echelons.

“It’s a fine line that you tread when you embark on a professional football career. You are one bad game away from getting the heave-ho and one good game from making your name.”

His departure from Derby opened up other doors, including a move to Preston Lions in the National Soccer League – originally for a few months, but ultimately seeing him remain Down Under for good.

His time in Australia – which included a then national record transfer fee of $30,000 to move to Brunswick Juventus – has seen him ply his trade in three states.

However, Lane says the upcoming generation of Strikers players are offering plenty of good signs as he sets about putting his squad together for 2017.

“I’ve said this to anybody that cares to listen – I think we’ve got some of the best seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year-olds at our club that I’ve ever worked with and in all three States that I’ve lived in.”

“Sometimes these kids have just got to be thrown in at the deep end and given the opportunity to prove themselves,” he concluded.