Former Town centre-half Gareth McAuley has been named the manager of the Northern Ireland U19s.

McAuley, 43, who won 80 full caps with Northern Ireland, had previously been working coaching the U17s and U19s having hung up his boots in 2019.

“Everyone knows I loved playing for Northern Ireland,” he told the Irish FA’s website. “It meant the world to me to pull on that jersey.

“It’s no different now that I am on the coaching side of things. I will give it my all. This is my first job as a manager/head coach and, naturally, I want to succeed in the role.”

Northern Ireland is set to host the UEFA U19 European Championship next year, which McAuley is looking forward toHe said: “Hosting the U19 Euros will be fantastic for Northern Ireland.

“Football fans here will get to see some of the best young players in Europe in action, while our players will get the opportunity to play against them.

McAuley, who was appointed an MBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours list, was with the Blues between 2008 and 2011, making 126 starts and one sub appearance, scoring eight times.

The Larne-born defender also represented Coleraine, Lincoln, Leicester, West Brom and Rangers during his playing career.

Photo: Action Images

Billysherlockblue added 18:51 - Aug 14 What a player!!
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Bergholtblue added 10:10 - Aug 15 Deemed not good enough to play for Town by Roy Keane. How long has it taken us to recover from stupid opinions like that?
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bobble added 13:23 - Aug 16 when will we have full ireland team ?
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