Aaron McFarland (born 19 August 1972) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He currently manages Central United FC and Kings College First XI in New Zealand's

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

and Auckland City FC's youth team in New Zealand's National Youth League and has previously held various head coach and assistant coach roles with

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...

including most recently as the assistant coach of the New Zealand national women's team. As a coach, he has won New Zealand's Chatham Cup (twice), the OFC Champions League, New Zealand's Northern League, and the OFC U-20 Women's Championship (twice). He has twice coached a New Zealand team to the knockout stages of a FIFA age-group World Cup, one of only two coaches do so with a team from that country. His Kings College First XI once beat Auckland Grammar 4-1.

Coaching career

After a career teaching at secondary school level in Dunedin and Wellington, McFarland began his club coaching career with Central United in Auckland, leading them to two Chatham Cup titles in his three year spell at the club, including a Northern League/Chatham Cup double in 2007. During this period he was also the youth team coach of Central's sister club, Auckland City FC, who he guided to a National Youth League title in 2007. In 2008, McFarland was appointed assistant coach to

Steve Cain Steve Cain (born 12 December 1958) is a New Zealand professional soccer coach. Career In 2002, he was a head coach of the Papua New Guinea national football team. Also he coached the Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club b ...

for the New Zealand U-17 Men's team. At the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. The tournament was won by Switzerland, beating the host team and holders, Nigeria. The Golden Ball to the Be ...

in Nigeria, that team became the first New Zealand team to progress beyond the group stage at any FIFA event. After working in a coach development role with

, McFarland returned to coaching in 2010 as co-coach of Auckland City FC in the

New Zealand National League The New Zealand Men's National League is a men's football league at the top of the New Zealand football league system. Founded in 2021, the New Zealand National League is the successor to the New Zealand Football Championship. The league will be ...

for the 2010-11 season, working alongside Ramon Tribulietx. The pair guided Auckland City to the 2011 OFC Champions League title, qualifying for the

2011 FIFA Club World Cup The 2011 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2011. It was the eighth edition of the FIFA Club Worl ...

after a two-year absence from that event. A month out from the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico, in April of that year, New Zealand U-17 head coach Steve Cain resigned for personal reasons and McFarland was appointed as his replacement. The side repeated their effort of two years prior, making the round of 16, before being eliminated at the hands of Japan. McFarland had left his role with Auckland City for the 2011-12 season, with Tribulietx continuing as sole head coach but McFarland rejoined the staff as a Technical Advisor for the

campaign in Japan. He took the role of head coach for the New Zealand U-20 Women's team in 2011, qualifying for

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

s in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. The

campaign saw New Zealand defeat Switzerland and draw with Japan but a defeat to Mexico in their final group game saw the North Americans edge New Zealand for a place in the knockout stages. Two years later at the 2014 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, New Zealand claimed victories over Paraguay and Costa Rica to qualify for the quarterfinals and become the first New Zealand age-group women's team to reach the knockout stages of a FIFA event. At that stage McFarland had been coach or assistant coach to all three New Zealand age-group sides to achieve that feat. In his 11 games at FIFA events as a head coach, McFarland has won four, drawn 2 and lost 5. McFarland's reappointment to the U-20 role in 2013 also coincided with his elevation to the role of assistant coach to the New Zealand women's national team. He left the role in November 2016 citing a desire to balance family commitments and return to a head coaching role. He returned to Central United as head coach for the 2017 winter season and also took the reins of Auckland City's youth team in the 2017-18 National Youth League. He joined the mighty Kings College First XI as head coach in 2019 to take the role after previous coach Daniel Rattray's retirement. The King's team played in the Auckland premier league in 2019. McFarland holds an Australian 'A' License as well as qualifications in Physical Education and Teaching.

Personal life

McFarland was born in Port Vila while his parents were living and working in Vanuatu, but his family returned to New Zealand before he started school. He has two children.

Honours

Player

Club

Dunedin Technical Dunedin Technical (known locally as Tech) is a semi-professional association football club in Dunedin, New Zealand. They compete in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League and were the 2018 ODT FootballSouth Premier League champions. Club history ...

South Island League: (3) 1997, 1998 Chatham Cup (Runner-up):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Coach

International

= New Zealand U-20 Women

= * OFC U-20 Women's Championship: (2)

Quarterfinals:

= New Zealand U-17 Men

= *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

Round of 16:

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Club

= Central United

= * Chatham Cup: (2)

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Northern League (New Zealand) The Northern League is a semi-professional New Zealand association football competition. It is a top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two overall. The Northern League includes football clubs located in the northern pa ...

= Auckland City FC

= * OFC Champions League: 2010-11 *National Youth League (New Zealand): (2) 2007, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McFarland, Aaron 1972 births Living people New Zealand association football managers Auckland City FC managers New Zealand women's national football team non-playing staff