Lansdowne Yonkers FC and its board of directors are proud to announce the appointment of Matthew “Matt” Kane as the club’s new Technical Director. This move is part of Lansdowne Yonkers’ long term strategy of expanding opportunities and development for the newly rebranded “Lansdowne Yonkers Academy,” where qualified young soccer players will be given higher standard training, coaching and guidance towards a college and pro soccer career from the age of 8 through their graduation from high school. Kane, a native of Belfast, Ireland, has already been on board for a full season as the first team’s head coach, and yielded results in the form of a season where “the Bhoys” captured the EPSL Metropolitan Conference title with a league record 57 points, and the Werner Fricker Region 1 Open Cup.
“Thrilled to be stepping into Lansdowne as Technical Director. The board and I share an ambition of Showcasing Lansdowne Academy as a hub of excellence for its dynamic community in the Westchester/ Yonkers area,” said Kane, who noted after the 1st team’s season that integrating the philosophy of the first team and the Academy will be paramount to the club’s future.
The immediate objective will be to build upon the structures already in place by Director of Coaching Shamir Mullings, where Kane and Mullings plan to be working alongside each other to evolve the club’s coaching methodology and player development pathway.
“We want the youth to be operating in the same vein of the senior squad, which is at the national level, and a subsequent long-term goal of that is to be participating in MLS Next and the National Academy League (NAL). Our mission is to develop, foster and support an elite mindset to the game of football from our players and best guide them on their journeys in soccer.”
Lansdowne Yonkers FC’s history of youth development goes back to when they initially partnered with Yonkers United Soccer Club, back when the senior club was “Lansdowne Bhoys FC”, before the two organizations formally merged in 2018 to become “Lansdowne Yonkers.” Yonkers United was originally founded in 1998 and among one of their most famous alumni is New York Red Bulls Goalkeeper Ryan Meara, who won 2 MLS Supporters’ Shields, and guided RBNY to an appearance in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup.
The merger to become Lansdowne Yonkers brought the soccer community together, serving over 400 players every season. In the past 2 seasons, graduating players have left with multiple trophies in the form of state cups and league titles, and moved on with some receiving scholarships for playing soccer and being leaders among their teammates in conference and NCAA play.
With Kane joining the organization in this capacity, Lansdowne Yonkers hopes to further expand on the growing number of players looking to build their soccer resumes and portfolios. Kane has a resume that includes coaching in the New York Red Bulls Academy system, as well as holding leadership and management positions at Met Oval and Soccer Stars United. His journey in soccer has also led to a great network that can benefit Lansdowne Yonkers in their pursuit of joining more prestigious youth development infrastructures such as MLS Next, a pathway program for sending young players to their professional careers in and around MLS and Professional American soccer.
Registration for Lansdowne Academy is available now on lansdowneyonkersfc.com. The program has now expanded to 10 months, with winter sessions included to keep players in shape and sharp for the duration of their season!
