• New foreign support staff to guide the Lankans 

By Ranjika Perera Support staff of Sri Lanka national men’s football team Head Coach: Andy Morrison (Scotland) Full name: Andrew Charles Morrison Date of birth: 30 July 1970 Age: 51 Place of birth: Inverness, Scotland Position: Central Defender Teams: Plymouth Argyle from 1987-1993, Blackburn Rovers from 1993-1994, Blackpool from 1994-1996 and 2000, Huddersfield Town from 1996-1998, Manchester City from 1998-2002 (27 appearances, four goals), Chrystal Palace in 2000 (five appearances), and Sheffield United in 2000 (four appearances) Team/s managed: Connah’s Quay Nomads which is playing in Welsh’s Cymru Premier, from 2015-2021 Assistant Head Coach: Keith Stevens (England) Full name: Keith Henry Stevens Date of birth: 21 June 1964 Age: 57 Place of birth: Merton, England Position: Defender Teams: Millwall Football Club from 1980-1999 in the English Football League (EFL) in 462 appearances scoring nine goals The Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) announced yesterday (12) the appointment of former Scottish player Andy Morrison, 51, as Head Coach of the Sri Lanka men’s national football team. Englishman Keith Stevens, meanwhile, will be the new Assistant Head Coach of the Sri Lanka team. Since the departure of the previous Head Coach Amir Alagic in April, due to the current volatile economic situation in the country, the FFSL, under the guidance of its Head Jaswar Umar, had been looking for, for the past weeks, a suitable replacement. ‘Stronger team in next three years’ Under Alagic, Sri Lanka men’s football team, nicknamed the “Golden Army”, showed a massive improvement even though the final results did not highlight their rejuvenated capabilities. The FFSL has made the above-said new appointments as a stepping stone for their new project: Building a stronger national football team in Sri Lanka within the next three years. This they want to achieve with the assistance of Qatar’s Aspire Foundation. Morrison, former Man City Captain Morrison is not only an experienced Coach, he is also a former Captain of Manchester City, during 1998-2002. He has also represented Huddersfield Town, Blackpool, and the Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League or EPL. As a Manager, he has worked in the Welsh National League. Who is Keith Stevens? Assistant Coach Keith Stevens too has tons of experience playing professional football in the English Football League, which is the next tier in England’s soccer after English Premier League. He represented Millwall Football Club in Bermondsey, Southeast London, England from 1980-1999. Since moving to Australia, Stevens had been involved in the local leagues there, including the championship-winning club Brisbane Roar in the inaugural Australian women’s “W-League”. For AFC Asian Qualifiers Both these coaches are expected to be in the island by today (13) and they will take over the team straight away, which is in preparation for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Qualifiers. They will be joining Brazilian Mario Ferreira who has been already employed as the Fitness Coach of the national side. The partnership between the FFSL and the Aspire Foundation in Qatar is expected to provide talented players to earn scholarships to play in the UK and Europe where they will gain quality training facilities at the Qatar Aspire Academy.