Former Ireland U21 man swaps Newcastle academy for Sparta Prague coaching role
Former Ireland Under-21 defender Diarmuid O'Carroll has left his job as Newcastle United Under-21 lead coach to take up a role in the Czech top-flight with Sparta Prague.
O'Carroll was appointed last September to the Toon Army job and he helped guide the club to a ninth-placed finish in Premier League 2.
The former Celtic, Airdrie and Cliftonville man initially earned his coaching stripes in Northern Ireland, managing women's teams at Crusaders and Glentoran.
He moved onto the Motherwell academy in 2019, and had spells coaching at Morecambe, St Mirren and with the Northern Ireland senior side under Michael O'Neill.
Sparta's Danish head coach Brian Priske, on his return to the club for a second spell in charge, has quickly moved to appoint O'Carroll to his backroom team.
Priske, a former Portsmouth and Club Brugge defender, was appointed on June 8 after a season managing Feyenoord. He has also managed Midtjylland in his native Denmark and Belgian side Royal Antwerp.
Newcastle United Academy Director Steve Harper paid tribute to O'Carroll.
He said: 'I'd like to thank Diarmuid for his time with us leading the under-21 group.
'The opportunity to work in Europe is an exciting one for him and we wish him the best of luck as his coaching career continues.
'He is the third professional development phase coach to be headhunted from our Academy for a first team senior football role in the last 12 months, which demonstrates that our Academy development pathway works not just for players but for staff too.
'The process of recruiting a new Under-21s lead coach is underway.'
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