Ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Super League (ISL 2023-24), Chennaiyin FC announced the eagerly anticipated return of Owen Coyle as their head coach on a multi-year deal.
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The experienced Scotsman, who has won the Premier League Manager of the Month Award thrice, is quite a popular name in the Indian football circuit and has had a successful stint with Chennaiyin FC last time when he led the club to the final of 2019-20 ISL with eight wins.
The 57-year-old won the ISL League Shield with Jamshedpur FC in 2021-22 with 43 points which was the highest at the time in the history of the tournament.
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Most recently, he coached Queen’s Park Football Club in the second tier of the Scottish Championship and guided them to a third-place finish in the league stage, helping them qualify for the promotion playoffs to the Scottish Premier Division.
“We’re delighted to have Owen back in Chennaiyin colours. Owen is no stranger to India and we’ve all seen what he can do here. He’s the right man to lead our young team forward and we’re glad to have him back home,” Chennaiyin co-owner Vita Dani commented.
Coyle has also coached in the English Premier League — one of the world’s top football leagues. In his first season as manager in England, he secured Burnley a promotion to the EPL by defeating Sheffield United in the 2008–09 Play-Off Final. Later, he joined Bolton and under Coyle, they were a resilient EPL side, which advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals in his first season. Coyle also had a successful journey in Major League Soccer (MLS) at Houston Dynamos in the United States.
An excited Coyle said, “Really excited to be back at Chennaiyin FC. It was a wonderful experience the last time. The club has had fantastic success and we want to try and replicate that. It’s going to be tough; we know that but we all love the challenge of that in football. I’m excited to replicate the successes that the club had previously for our wonderful fans and I look forward to seeing them soon.”
As a player, Coyle had a long and successful career as a striker. Besides featuring in the EPL, he also played for clubs like Dundee United and Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League. He has more than 300 goals to his name.
Fulfilling the obligations of his previous contract with Queens Park FC, Owen will only be able to take charge of the team in August.
