By Tara Murray
New Melton Phoenix coach Darren Traynor is hoping to bring some on-field stability to the club in FFV state league 5 west.
Traynor, who has previously coached in the league, was announced as coach last week with David Farmer appointed his assistant coach.
Having more recently been involved with youth sides in the National Premier League, Traynor said he was excited to get back into coaching a senior team.
“I played with Melton 10 years ago and I enjoyed that year and Melton has always had a soft spot in my heart,” he said.
“The opportunity came up and I spoke to [president] Michelle [Williamson]. They reached out and there’s some good people at the club.”
Traynor said the focus for him and Farmer was to get the on field stuff right, with a lot of work being put in behind the scenes.
The club has appointed a football director, is getting its women’s program back up and running and has tripled the number of juniors at the club.
On the field, the Phoenix’s top side has had an up and down couple of years.
This year it finished sixth overall, losing just one of its past 12 matches.
Traynor said being a growth area, it was an exciting time for the club.
“The club has a three year plan and they want to establish themselves,” Traynor said.
“It’s been up and down the last few years. The average age is about 23-24. I’m pretty keen to see the youth from Melton come through the system and hopefully get a taste of senior football.”
Traynor said his background working with younger players would help with their development.
The plan is to do a four week training block before Christmas, which Traynor said would give him a bit of an idea about the group.
He said they would look to add in some recruits. The club has already announced the signing of goalkeeper Semir Ekic.
Among the focus on recruiting for Melton Phoenix, was trying to bring people back to the club on and off the field.
