Grassroots coaches across Cumbria have the opportunity to learn from a man who has worked at the top level in English football.
An exclusive Mike Phelan Coaching Series is coming to Cumbria next month with sessions in the west and the east of the county.
Cumberland FA said the sessions will be immersive learning experiences designed to develop, inspire, and elevate coaches working within grassroots football.
The first session will be on Monday, March 16 at Whitehaven AFC and runs from 6.30pm to 9pm. The following day, a session will be held at Gretna’s Raydale Park, from 6.30pm to 9pm.
Born in Nelson, near Burnley, 63-year-old Phelan spent most of his playing career at Burnley, Norwich City and Manchester United, with a short spell at West Bromwich Albion before retirement in 1995.
While he was with Manchester United he also earned a single cap for England and in 2006, Norwich fans voted Phelan into the club’s Hall of Fame.
After retirement he first took a position as assistant at his former club, Norwich City, before following Gary Megson to Blackpool and then Stockport County.
After Megson left Stockport, Phelan was hired by another former club, Manchester United, taking over as the assistant manager of the club’s reserve team.
Two years later, he was promoted to become Alex Ferguson’s chief first-team coach, and in 2008 he replaced Carlos Queiroz as Ferguson’s assistant manager.
He remained in the position until Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, when Ferguson’s successor David Moyes replaced the entire coaching staff.
He was Ferguson’s right-hand man for three Premier League titles, a FIFA Club World Cup, two League Cups, and two runs to the final of the UEFA Champions League.
After a year out of football, Phelan was appointed as first-team coach back at Norwich City in November 2014 and took temporary charge of the club when manager Neil Adams resigned in January 2015, only to be relieved of his duties by Adams’ permanent replacement, Alex Neil.
A month later, he was appointed as assistant manager at Hull City under former Manchester United teammate Steve Bruce. He was promoted to first team management following the departure of Bruce on a temporary basis before the 2016–17 season.
This was made permanent on 13 October but he was sacked from his position with Hull on January 3 2017 with the club 20th in the Premier League.
He later returned to Manchester United working under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and was there until 2022 when he left and his final coaching job was with Plymouth Argle until the end of 2024.
