City recruit New Zealand coach for A-League assistant

Melbourne City have appointed the former youngest coach in A-League history, Des Buckingham, as their A-League team's assistant coach to Patrick Kisnorbo.

Buckingham joins with a stellar pedigree for a 35-year-old, with the Brit coming through the ranks at Oxford and Reading before becoming the A-League's youngest coach ever coach when he took over Wellington Phoenix in 2017.

Since his Nix spell, Buckingham has taken charge of Stoke City's U / 23s and New Zealand's national U / 20 and U / 23 sides, as well as providing an assistant coaching role to the All Whites.

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During his tenure, he led the OlyWhites to the Olympics and U / 20s to the World Cup.

In conjunction with Wellington Phoenix academy director Paul Temple, ushered in a golden age for Kiwi youth, as the nation have outperformed Australia in almost every U / 17 and U / 20 World Cup for the past decade (admittedly with an easier qualification pathway).

“I'm delighted to be joining Melbourne City and I can't wait to work alongside Patrick and the whole coaching team for the upcoming season,” Buckingham said.

“Returning to the A-League and joining a club like Melbourne City with an exciting group of players is one I believe fits the mold for me as a coach and my footballing philosophy.

"City has established a style of play that has set themselves as one of the top teams in the league and I'm looking forward to working alongside Patrick and the team."

City football director, Michael Petrillo, said Kisnorbo and Buckingham would make an excellent partnership.

"We're excited to add Des to our coaching team for the upcoming season and feel he and Patrick [Kisnorbo] will make a great combination in our quest for silverware," Petrillo said.

“Des' background at both Senior Men's level and youth level is an important asset that we saw in him and his development as a coach has been closely monitored by the Club.

"We saw his ability to implement a clear footballing philosophy at the U20 World Cup and the U23 Olympic qualifiers and look forward to the skills and knowledge he will bring as we look to realize our ambitions in the coming seasons."

City were the first club to announce their return date, resuming training on October 5.