Ben Cahn (born 28 February 1988) is an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

manager who was most recently the head coach of

A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club Brisbane Roar.

Career

Early life and move to Australia

Cahn was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, to an Australian mother, and grew up supporting Chelsea FC in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. As a teenager he played in the academies for Crystal Palace, and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. It was whilst at Fulham, his hopes of becoming a professional footballer were cut short when he was told by the club he would never make it professionally. When he was 21, Cahn travelled to Australia and started coaching in some football academies in the

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

. In 2015 he joined the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

, becoming an integral part of their successful academy side, overseeing the development and rise of future A-League players

Trent Buhagiar Trent Buhagiar (born 27 February 1998) is an Australian professional footballer who plays for Newcastle Jets in the A-League. Early life Born in Gosford, Buhagiar moved to and grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales, playing junior foo ...

Steve Whyte Steve Whyte in an Australian professional footballer who plays for Melbourne Knights in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. Whyte played youth football for Central Coast Mariners, before moving overseas to Seattle in 2017, where he made his ...

Lachlan Wales Lachlan Wales (born 19 October 1997) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Western United in the A-League. Club career Central Coast Mariners Wales progressed from the youth ranks of the Central Coast Mariners to mak ...

and Adam Pearce. He was also briefly assistant to both

Paul Okon Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian soccer player. He has Belgian citizenship. He previously captained the Australian National Team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Ba ...

and Tony Walmsley throughout their stints as A-League men managers. In 2017 he departed the Mariners and was signed as the head coach of

Olympic FC Olympic Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was founded in 1967 and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Queensland, with home matches played at Goodwin Park. The club has grow ...

in the

NPL Queensland The National Premier League Queensland, run by Football Queensland, is the top tier state-level football (soccer) competition in Queensland. The conference is a sub division of the National Premier Leagues. The inaugural season kicked off in Marc ...

competition. At the helnm of Olympic FC Cahn's team reached the grand final of the competition 5 times consecutively, however lost all 5 grand finals. In February 2023, Cahn took a further step in his managerial career, taking on the managerial role at Melbourne Knights. In his sole season in charge, Cahn led the Knights to a fourth-place finish in the 2023

NPL Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional association football, soccer league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the high ...

season, along with making the NPL Victoria, Dockerty Cup, and

Australia Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austra ...

semi finals, before leaving his position in order to become Brisbane Roar's Youth Technical Director.

Brisbane Roar

On 1 January 2024, Cahn was announced as the manager for

Brisbane Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...

, after interim coach Lucas Trani was sacked after one game following an 8–1 loss to Melbourne City. The appointment marks Cahn's first role as manager of a professional football club, along with his appointment being the 5th manager Brisbane Roar have signed in under a year since

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonto ...

was sacked in February 2023. After 5 games in charge for 1 win and 4 losses, Cahn went on long-term

medical leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sic ...

from 1 February 2024. He had been diagnosed with

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...

and underwent throat surgery that left him unable to continue his work. Recently appointed assistant manager

Ruben Zadkovich Ruben Anton Zadkovich ( hr, Zadković, ; born 23 May 1986) is a former Australian professional football (soccer) player, and manager of Perth Glory. He played for 6 clubs in a career that spanned between England and Australia, notably becoming a ...

was elevated as his interim replacement. On 19 April 2024, Brisbane Roar announced Cahn had permanently departed the club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cahn, Ben English football managers 1988 births Living people Central Coast Mariners FC non-playing staff Brisbane Roar FC managers A-League Men managers