Jim Crawford has extended his contract as Ireland Under-21s Head Coach for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification campaign.
Crawford, who took over the role in April 2020, has steered Ireland to an all-time high U-21 UEFA ranking of 16th. A rise of 14 places since his appointment.
“To manage, lead and coach the U-21s team is a huge privilege and a massive honour” explained Crawford. “So I’m over the moon to extend my contract.
“The staff and players who I’ve worked with since my appointment have given me everything and the by-product of this is there’s a real belief in Irish football that one day our Under-21s can go on, achieve history and reach a first-ever European Championships.
“Work has already begun to develop the next generation of Under-21s; we capped 15 players since our game against Iceland; who qualify for the next qualifiers and we had a brilliant week with a group in Marbella in November. Which saw us beat Sweden.
“It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to a new challenge, with a new group.”
Exciting challenge
“We are delighted to secure the services of Jim Crawford for another U-21s campaign”. Said FAI Chief Football Officer, Marc Canham.
“While the main focus of the U-21s is player development; Jim has proven his quality by developing players and remaining a challenger for European Championship qualification over the last few years”.
“One of the Jim’s biggest achievements has been his ability to nurture the pathway from the U-21s to the senior team and in the most recent senior squad; more than 50% of the players had played under Jim during his time as Head Coach of the U-21s”.
“This has helped establish a strong relationship between our under-age and senior set-up, and has expanded the pool of players experiencing high-level international football for the senior men’s team under Heimir Hallgrímsson.”
