Sudeep Pakrashi:

His coaching journey never started with the women’s footballers. Even in his earlier days, his desire was not to settle into women’s football coaching. Rather Anthony Andrews’s journey began, guiding the toddlers and youth footballers in Maharashtra, first at PIFA and then Minerva FC academy.

The first assignment of guiding women’s footballers came from Gokulam FC. He was asked to join as an assistant to the first-team coach, Priya PV.

Today, Anthony Andrews, after completing his 50th match as a coach (on the day East Bengal won against SESA in the ongoing IWL), reveals he did not accept the Gokulam FC offer immediately.  He took almost six months for research on women’s football. 

He spent hours in understanding the physiological and psychological aspects of women. He has seven sisters in his family. Interaction with them since childhood already helped him to understand women’s psychological aspects, the idea about their physical abilities. He spent hours talking to Chitra Gangadharan in Bengaluru to have a thorough idea about the women footballers’ psychology and how to deal with them. He is also indebted to Jeddy Almedia, one of the pioneers in the country’s women’s football development. He got a lot of advices from Almeida sir. Then only he accepted the Gokulam FC offer.

Anthony feels his most memorable happenings in the coaching journey so far are Gokulam FC (two IWL titles) and his success with East Bengal (one IWL, the AFC Club Championship qualification and SAFF Club Cup title).

But he still remembers his first win as the coach of Gokulam FC. and still dedicates it to his Praveen sir, the top-boss of Gokulam FC. Anthony believes that Praveen was the man who believed in his hard work and effort. Itr was Praveen’s contrbution which guided Anthony to continue coaching women footballers. 

While explaining the change in the country’s women’s football, the 30-year-old coach feels In the earlier days the women’s footballers the style of women’s football play was not progressive as they tried to depend on kick-and-run. Today, women footballers have also learnt how to take possession, how to dish out a passing game. They have also improved in technique and basic skills gradually.

Still, the coach feels that women footballers should be more encouraged financially, especially at a time when in the Fifa-ranking country’s women’s football is at 67th!

The 30-year-old coach wants more clubs across the country should come forward to build up women’s team. He also wants the women’s footballers as well as the coaching staff should earn more than their present condition. Anthony feels It is the first time the country’s women’s football have qualified for the women’s Asian Cup in senior, under-20 and under-17. So women’s football should be promoted more.