Anthony Correia is in his first weeks as head coach in professional football. The 42-year-old coach swapped the amateurs of Katwijk for Telstar this summer. ‘Somewhere I knew that if I ever had to find my ceiling as a coach, I had to fly out.’
With seven points from four matches, Telstar’s start can be called neat. Correia calls his successful period at Katwijk a logical step towards the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. ‘The Tweede Divisie is simply great, I recommend it to every trainer. I recently said somewhere that I would like to bring a bit of amateur football to professional football. It would make everything a bit nicer.’
Correia knows that in practice it looks different. ‘The amateur world revolves around the family feeling, the many volunteers, achieving something together. The best amateur clubs hold that in high regard. That unique feeling, that has to come to the fore. Also at professional clubs. You see too little of that in professional football. It is so much more businesslike than the romantic image.’
Flying out
To reach his ceiling, Correia had to fly the nest. ‘Because this club will never become a professional club due to the strict licensing requirements. Too bad? Yes and no. If you take the derbies out of amateur football, you take away half of the charm. From a sporting point of view, you should be able to relegate in the KKD to make the KKD more realistic, but unfortunately that really won’t work.’
You can read the entire interview with Anthony Correia on VI PRO.
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