Inside the little-known sports centre on Scottish coast that produced world’s best managers like Mourinho and Capello
THE SCOTTISH town of Largs features in the coaching careers of some of the world’s best managers.
Jose Mourinho and Fabio Capello are amongst the names to have spent time in the quiet Ayrshire resort.
Located on the Scottish west coast, Largs is home to the Inverclyde National Sports Centre.
For several decades, the famed Scottish FA site has provided courses to budding managers aiming to secure their coaching badges.
During that time, Inverclyde and Largs have become a rite of passage for some of Europe’s top managers.
The success of their alumni peaked at the start of the 2011/12 season, with nine of the 20 Premier League managers having taught or taken lessons at Inverclyde.
Amongst them were Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Andre Villas Boas and Brendan Rodgers.
Meanwhile, Mourinho studied for his Uefa badges there in 2000, whilst Capello and compatriot Giovanni Trapattoni spent time in the town during the 1980s.
Italy’s World Cup-winning coach Marcelo Lippi was also once an attendee.
Former SFA technical director Craig Brown previously put the success of Inverclyde’s students down to having some of the game’s most respected managers providing coaching lectures.
He told the BBC in 2019: “The staff were the best managers that we had in Scotland – the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Jim McLean, who took Dundee United to the European Cup semi-final and Uefa Cup final.
“Andy Roxburgh was very resourceful and he brought the best in Europe to add to that, either to demonstrate or coach.
“He must take a lot of credit for making it an internationally renowned course.
“We had Arrigo Sacchi, whose AC Milan side had been the best club side in Europe, come over.
“We had Richard Moller Nielsen, who had led Denmark to the European Championship in 1992. Franco Ferrari, who was one Italy’s best tactical coaches, Germany boss Berti Vogts.
“These fantastic coaching exponents would be on the course as guest lecturers and you would have a bit of a bother getting them to leave because they were enjoying it so much.”
Inverclyde was also seen as ahead of its time thanks to a focus on man-management skills during their courses.
Originally built in the 19th century, the site was converted into a hotel in 1920 before being bought by the Scottish Council for Physical Recreation in the 1950s.
It was only then that it started to be transformed into a hub for promising coaches and managers.
The site is now used for a range of sports in addition to football after undergoing redevelopment work.
A £17million makeover in 2017 helped to modernise Inverclyde and improve accessibility for para-athletes.
Although the conveyor belt of top managers has seemingly slowed in recent years, former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is amongst the more recent attendees.
The Portuguese manager studied in Largs in 2012 before going on to manage in Spain, England and Saudi Arabia, as well as his homeland.