SOCCER

By TOM HAYES

 

FORMER Morwell soccer player, John Hutchinson has been named as the interim Yokohama F. Marinos head coach.

Hutchinson was elevated to the head coaching role after ex-Socceroo, Harry Kewell was sacked by the club this week.

Hutchinson was a part of Kewell’s coaching staff, previously acting as an assistant coach.

In Japan’s J1 League, Yokohama F. Marinos have had their fair share of Australian head coaches in recent history.

From 2018 to 2021, current Tottenham Hotspur manager and former Socceroos head coach, Ange Postecoglou took charge of the Japanese side, winning the title in 2019.

Ex-Socceroo, Kevin Muscat took the reins a month later, holding the position for two years, before he was replaced by Kewell at the end of 2023.

Kewell only held the position until this week, when he was sacked by the club.

Hutchinson, a Maltese international, played for Morwell Pegasus between 1993 and 1996, before joining Gippsland Falcons (Eastern Pride) for a six-year spell between 1996 and 2001.

Back then, Gippsland Falcons was a National Soccer League side. The National Soccer League was the top-level of Australia soccer from 1977 to 2004, when the competition folded, subsequently forming the A-League.

After leaving Falcons (Pride) in 2001, Hutchinson moved to Sydney to play for Northern Spirit (2001-2004) and Manly United (2004-2005), before moving to A-League side Central Coast Mariners.

Hutchinson essentially ended his playing career, and started his coaching career with the Mariners, spending 11 years on their list, playing-coaching the side in 2015, becoming an assistant in for the 2015/16 season. He is dubbed as a legend of the Mariners and the A-League.

Hutchinson was also an assistant for US side Seattle Sounders 2 (US second division), taking the main role in his second year, returning to Australia to be an assistant at the newly formed Western United in 2019.

He returned to the US to head coach second division side El Paso Locomotive FC in 2022, before becoming an assistant to Kewell at Yokohama F. Marinos.