Special Feature: Paul Carter – The Forgotten Coach
In 2013, Paul Carter, the former Socceroo and journeyman coach, was riding on the crest of a wave.
In his first year at the helm of Wollongong United in the Illawarra Premier League, his achievements even eclipsed his wildest expectations.
Competing in the Waratah Cup, his team eliminated Blacktown Spartans and the star studded Sydney United, coached by successful rookie coach Mark Rudan, only to be defeated by St George in the quarterfinals, 2-1.
It was high sailing for a club which had never enjoyed such success and was capped by a great run in the IPL when they also recorded unprecedented results by finishing third on goal difference in the League, before losing in the preliminary final.
Most coaches would’ve reflected on the season with a sense of pride and accomplishment but Wollongong United obviously didn’t share this view and Carter wasn’t re-engaged for 2014.
“The club approached me in June to discuss my future and I suggested we talk at the end of the season but that never materialised”.
“However, that was hardly surprising because they’d sacked the last three coaches who incidentally never produced the results I provided for the club”.
“When you finish a season, you’d like to think you had a club to go to but even after talking to Bertie Mariani at Marconi, I didn’t even get an interview for the vacant coaching position and that’s after over 200 first team games with the club in the NSL”.
Carter played with such legends as Tony Henderson, Zlatko Necevski, Roberto Vieri, Eddie Krncevic, Frank Farina, Mark Jankovics, David Lowe, Peter Sharne and Rod Brown at Marconi but many of these names would be unknown to the new generation of football administrators so it hardly creates a ripple when they examine the coaching resume and playing record of coaches like Paul Carter.
How short are people’s memories in football because Carter in his first coaching stint at a senior level in 1999 with St George in 2nd division, engineered the club’s promotion to the top division after that first season.
“I’ve often been involved with clubs who are at the bottom of the heap without any money and the challenge has been to redevelop their playing stocks by nurturing young players”.
In 2007 , one of Carter’s greatest moments was to guide the Macarthur Rams into the IGA NPL NSW Premier League for the following year.
“It was certainly a higher level of competition we encountered and the fourth last placing in first grade was acceptable for our first season”.
“However, our relegation from the Premier League based on the placing in the Club Championship, was something I could never understand”.
Very few people would be aware Paul Carter was responsible for tipping off John Kosmina to sign Fabio Ferreira when he was playing for Fraser Park in the SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2.
The rest is history as the Portugese flyer has been a big success at Adelaide United, despite some nagging injuries.
Carter currently holds his Advanced A-Licence which qualifies him to coach an A-League outfit and is contemplating the Pro Licence.
“It would be great to obtain the Pro Diploma but at a cost of $14,000 it’s an expensive exercise if you don’t secure a job “.
Meanwhile, as the winter season approaches, Carter is hoping an opportunity presents itself.
“As I’ve experienced in the past, a club will come knocking on my door during the year when a coach fails and I’ll be back in the game again.”
“It’s the nature of football in this country where there’s just not enough jobs to go round."
-By Roger Sleeman
