Conor Hourihane retires from football to take on new coaching role at Barnsley
In addition to announcing his retirement from playing, Conor Hourihane has committed to become Barnsley’s permanent assistant head coach.
Throughout his 15-year playing career, the Bandon native made over 580 appearances, spending time with Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle, Aston Villa, Swansea City, Sheffield United, Derby County, and most recently, Barnsley.
The 33-year-old scored one goal in the Republic of Ireland’s close victory over Georgia in their March 2019 Euro 2020 qualifying match at the Aviva Stadium, earning them 36 caps overall.
For the following two years at Barnsley, the Corkman had planned to play and coach, but on Friday, he reaffirmed his intention to concentrate only on his coaching duties.
Hourihane stated on the club’s official website, “I have enjoyed every moment of my time as a player at all the clubs I represented.”
I am thankful to many people, beginning with my parents, who let me travel to England at the age of sixteen. “My intention was to play, but a combination of not feeling I could perform to the standard I expected and the amazing coaching opportunity that Barnsley have provided has meant I have come to this decision and I am excited to become a full-time Assistant Head Coach to Darrell at Oakwell.”
I will always cherish the two Wembley victories with Barnsley, as well as my promotion and playing in the Premier League for Aston Villa.
Barnsley Sporting Director, Mladen Sormaz added: “We are delighted that Conor has agreed to take up this role permanently, it has clearly been on the cards for a number of weeks.
“We came to the decision based on two factors, the first was that Conor really impressed in his coaching duties over the summer and at the start of the season, the number of hours he was putting in was massive.
“Secondly, after the opening games, he had felt that he wasn’t able to play to the level he demanded from himself and this coincided with Dean Whitehead’s departure- therefore it made perfect sense to give Conor more responsibility as a Coach and call time on his playing career.
“The club and Darrell collaborated on the decision and collectively we are excited to see what else Conor can bring to the staff after a very positive start.”
“We are in a position where it’s simply not possible to maintain both roles,” stated Barnsley Head Coach Darrell Clarke. “Conor has been outstanding as a coach; the workload is huge and he has taken it very seriously.”
“I am thrilled with Conor’s development; in addition to being a great coach, he serves as a guide to many young guys in the club who aspire to follow in his footsteps.
“With Martin, Jon, James, and the rest of the support team, we have a backroom crew that can do amazing things.”
