Haynes appointed Men’s U-20 Head Coach
Haynes appointed Men’s U-20 Head Coach
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is pleased to welcome Mr Brian Haynes as the newly appointed Head Coach of our Men’s Under 20 Team.
The appointment of Haynes comes following a review of various applications that were received and reviewed by the TTFA, via a process led by Technical Director Anton Corneal, over the past few weeks.
Haynes will serve initially on a six-month appointment starting November 1st and he will also be at the helm of a Men’s Under 23 Team which will be used a Feeder Team for the Senior Men’s National Team. He will also assist the TTFA with developing the Talent Identification and Scouting Systems across the various age groups.
As a player, Haynes represented Trinidad and Tobago at senior level between 1987-1997 and the Under 20 Team between 1980-1982. He played for Dallas Burn in Major League Soccer from 1996-2000 along with a host of other clubs in the US.
On the coaching side, Haynes was most recently attached to Colorado Rapids II in MLS NextPro. He also served at Charlotte Independence in the USL Championship and InterMiami Developmental Academy.
He began his professional coaching career as an Assistant Coach with Dallas Burn in the MLS in 2001-2006.
In an initial reaction to his appointment, Haynes told TTFA Media, “It’s an understatement to say I’m delighted with the appointment. What I’m looking for is the next Trinibagonian who wants to make an impact not just in his local community but for the country itself.
“It’s always been my passion to work with players between the ages of 18 and 24. It’s where I feel comfortable and when the opportunity came it didn’t matter when it was going to be. Once it was offered to me the answer was yes. I’m thankful for the opportunity and I can’t wait to come home to get to work with these players,” he continued.
“First and foremost I will get familiar with the players, get to know them and get all the information on these players. I will be looking at all the videos. I am a possession oriented type of coach. I am also the kind of coach that likes to press and I am also the kind of coach that wants to make sure that we entertain first.
“Yes, we want to win but we want the Trinbagonian people to come support us because we play a brand of football that is something they want to see. We are going to work harder than any other team.
“We are going to do our best to qualify and take this team as far as we can take it. I want to make sure we can put our name back on the map in Concacaf. Mediocrity is not something I am willing to stand for.
(See Video Interview at the end of page for More of his Comments)
Technical Director Corneal spoke on Haynes’ addition, saying “I think Brian will be a good addition to our set up not just as the Men’s U-20 head coach but also helping to prepare some of the younger players to be introduced into the senior team in the near future. He is coming here in a two-fold role. He will also give us the opportunity to access players, especially those coming out of the US with him being based there for such a long time where he has established a lot of connections.
“His appointment is based on a couple different roles that he will play, especially knowing that the Under 20 tournament will be hosted in Trinidad and Tobago in February 2024. Given the time, we have a couple of persons who will work with him which we will finalise soon to begin the screening of players that will be of age for that team,” Corneal added.
“The TTFA High Performance Programme staff has been scouting and monitoring the progress of the players, in particular in the SSFL. We are proud that many of the top performing players in the SSFL are already part of our High Performance Programme or National U17 Programme but that is not to say that we haven’t also been encouraged by a few other players who have stood out that we would now like to invite into the Programmes.
“The age group for the Tournament is players born from 2005 to 2009 so we do understand that many of Coach Shawn Cooper’s Under 17 team from earlier this year may be a part of this Under 20 team, but of course we will scout, screen and bring in some other talent as well with Brian.”
Trinidad and Tobago will host Group D of the 2024 Concacaf Men’s U20 Qualifiers. T&T has been drawn in Group D with Canada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica with the group matches to be played at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain.
Teams will battle in round-robin play between 23 February to 2 March 2024.
The winner of the group will advance to the 2024 Concacaf Men’s U20 Championships.
A total of 27 men’s U20 teams have been divided into three groups of five and three groups of four. The winners of the six groups will advance to the 2024 Concacaf Men’s U20 Championships joining the six seeded nations, the USA, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.
