Austin MacPhee (born 11 October 1979) is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is currently the set piece coach of

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and assistant head coach of the Portugal national team. MacPhee has a reputation for his work with set pieces, which he was first given responsibility for by Northern Ireland national team head coach Michael O'Neill. This lead to MacPhee's appointment as a specialist set piece coach with

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side

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

, who are famed for their focus in this area.

Playing career

MacPhee was a youth team player with Forfar Athletic, but didn't progress to the first team. He moved to the United States aged 20 and spent three years playing college soccer for the Wilmington Seahawks. He then had one year with Romanian club Dacia Unirea Brăila and three years in Japan with

FC Kariya are a Japanese football club based in Kariya, Aichi. They're aiming to gain professional status. Since the 2022 season, after being relegated from the Japan Football League, they are currently playing in the Tōkai Adult Soccer League, whic ...

, where he ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Cupar Hearts

In his first season as a head coach, MacPhee guided Cupar Hearts to Fife Amateur Cup victory for the first time in 112 years and to the

Scottish Amateur Cup The Scottish Amateur Cup is a nationwide knockout tournament supported and organised by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Scottish Amateur Cup is contested by hundreds of football clubs every year. The first and second rounds are re ...

final at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. He resigned after one season in charge to take an assistant coach job with

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

Cowdenbeath

Head coach Danny Lennon hired MacPhee after seeing his coaching ability on the

UEFA A Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

course and noting his amateur success at Cupar Hearts. During his time as part of Lennon's backroom staff the club achieved back-to-back promotions moving from the

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...

to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

St Mirren

After their success at Cowdenbeath, MacPhee teamed up again with Lennon at

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

team St Mirren. As part of Lennon's backroom staff, the club finished eighth in the 2011−12 season, their highest Premiership finish, followed by winning their first trophy in 27 years, the 2012–13 Scottish League Cup, before repeating their eighth-place finish in the 2013−14 season. The team included three young players who went on to play in the English

John McGinn John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, whom he Captain (association football), captains, and the Scotland national football team, Scot ...

, Kenny McLean and Paul Dummett. In the 2012−13 season, MacPhee helped secure the signing of

Esmaël Gonçalves Esmaël Ruti Tavares Cruz da Silva Gonçalves (born 25 June 1991), also known as Isma, is a Bissau-Guinean footballer who plays as a center forward and winger and is a free agent after leaving Scottish club Livingston in September 2023. He a ...

on loan from Portuguese side Rio Ave. Gonçalves scored after eight minutes on his debut, in a 3−2 victory over

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at Hampden Park. MacPhee was credited with the tactical plan behind the victory in post match comments by Lennon and team captain Steven Thompson. Gonçalves went on to score ten goals in three months, including a goal in their Scottish League Cup final victory over Heart of Midlothian.

Northern Ireland

MacPhee resigned from his post at St Mirren in March 2014 to become an assistant coach with the Northern Ireland national team and began working with Michael O'Neill. MacPhee joined the squad for the first time in May 2014 for their friendly match against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in Montevideo as they prepared for their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. In his first qualifying campaign working with O'Neill, the team made a historic start winning their first three games and going on to maintain their form with excellent performances against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Following their 3–1 home win against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, Northern Ireland secured qualification for the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

for the first time in history. After the match, O'Neill praised the efforts of MacPhee and his "obsessive attention to detail" on

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, as well as his excellent work with set-pieces, which had delivered eleven goals in qualification. A draw in Helsinki later secured them as group winners for the first time in national history as they became the first team in history to win a group having been ranked in pot five. After defeating

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

1−0 in Belfast, the team created history by going ten games undefeated, with former

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

keeper

Roy Carroll Roy Eric Carroll (born 30 September 1977) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for his spells at Wigan Athletic, Manchester United (where he won a Premier League winners medal and the ...

and O'Neill both praising MacPhee's innovative work with set pieces and detailed work with the players as they prepared for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

. Northern Ireland were drawn in a group with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and progressed to the

knockout stages A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

after a historic 2−0 win over Ukraine in Lyon. MacPhee was hailed as the "only Scot at the Euros" after all home nations qualified bar

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Northern Ireland were eventually eliminated in the Round of 16 after a 1−0 loss to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, following a Gareth McAuley own goal from a

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

cross. MacPhee continued to work as one of O'Neill's assistant coaches for a total of 63 international matches, until O'Neill left the post to manage

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. It was announced that MacPhee was staying with Northern Ireland when

Ian Baraclough Ian Robert Baraclough (; born 4 December 1970) is an English football manager and former player who is currently sporting director at Partick Thistle, of the Scottish Championship. His most recent role had been a short spell as assistant manager ...

was appointed as O'Neill's successor. After Northern Ireland secured Euro 2020 qualifying play-off semi-final success in Sarajevo with a victory over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, Baraclough credited both MacPhee and goalkeeping coach

Steve Harper Stephen Alan Harper (born 14 March 1975) is an English former professional footballer, and currently first team coach for Newcastle United and goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland national team. He is best known for his time playing at ...

for their

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

winning approach. Northern Ireland had substituted two players in the 119th minute, bringing on Conor Washington and Liam Boyce, who both went on to score their penalties.

Heart of Midlothian

On 6 December 2016, MacPhee agreed to take over as the new assistant coach to Ian Cathro at Heart of Midlothian. The club announced that MacPhee would continue to work with Northern Ireland. In MacPhee's time at the club, he further developed his reputation for his work with set pieces, which he was first given responsibility for by Northern Ireland head coach Michael O'Neill. Three goals from set pieces in the 2018–19 Scottish Cup semi-final win against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

and Heart of Midlothian converting goals from imaginative set pieces in the league further grew his reputation in this area, as pundits, coaches and players commended his work. MacPhee was appointed as caretaker manager in October 2019, as Heart of Midlothian went through a legal dispute with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

about the hiring of new head coach Daniel Stendel to replace

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone. During his playing c ...

. His second spell as caretaker manager ended when Stendel was appointed on 7 December. MacPhee officially left Heart of Midlothian on 31 May 2020, at the end of his contract.

Midtjylland

After leaving Hearts, MacPhee joined

in the

as a specialist set piece coach. Midtjylland, who are famed for their focus on set pieces, qualified for the 2020−21 Champions League group stages in a group with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. The

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...

announced that MacPhee would continue to work with Northern Ireland.

Aston Villa

After leaving Midtjylland in August 2021, MacPhee joined

in the Premier League as a set piece coach. Once again, the Irish FA initially said that MacPhee would continue his work with the Northern Ireland national team. In November 2021, after manager

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...

was replaced by

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. He is widely regarded as o ...

took over as Aston Villa manager, MacPhee once again retained his role. Emery was reported as having been aware of MacPhee's work with the Scotland national team and was keen to make him an important part of his backroom staff. In the 2023–24 season, Aston Villa scored the most set piece goals in Europe when they converted 25 set pieces in all competitions.

Scotland

Later in August 2021, MacPhee left his position with Northern Ireland to take an assistant coach position with the Scotland national team alongside his Aston Villa role. In September 2024, MacPhee announced that he had reluctantly resigned the international role because his father was ill and he wanted to focus on his job with Aston Villa.

Portugal

On 12 February 2025, MacPhee was announced as the assistant head coach of the Portugal national team, alongside his ongoing role at Aston Villa.

FIFA and UEFA

MacPhee has previously held roles as a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

Technical Observer and a

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Coach Mentor with the China national team staff.

AM Soccer Club

MacPhee founded the charity AM Soccer Club, which provides football coaching to over 500 players. The organisation has had national acclaim winning the "Legacy Award" and producing up to 50 players for professional academies and the Scottish Performance Schools. The most notable graduate from the AM Soccer Club Curriculum was Louis Appéré, who was invited into the

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

of Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

prior to signing with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacPhee, Austin 1979 births Living people AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila players UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's soccer players Heart of Midlothian F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Kirkcaldy Scottish men's footballers Scottish football managers FC Kariya players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Men's association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football coaches Cowdenbeath F.C. non-playing staff St Mirren F.C. non-playing staff Northern Ireland national football team non-playing staff Scotland national football team non-playing staff Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Romania