John Herdman

John Herdman... speaks English... sports family (soccer son Jay, soccer brother Martin, boxing grandfather)... favourites have included Newcastle United FC... noted Bobby Robson as his idol football manager... lectured in sport science at Northumbia University... earned his FA Coaching Certificate in 1995... earned his UEFA B Coaching Licence in 1999... earned his UEFA A Diploma (Coaching Award)... granted (via equivalency) his Canada Soccer Coaching A Diploma in 2012...

he earned an honorary degree from Northumbia University (honorary doctorate of science in December 2023)...

served as Canada's Head Coach at two Women's Olympic Football Tournaments (London 2012, Rio 2016), one FIFA Women’s World Cup (Canada 2015) and one men's FIFA World Cup (Qatar 2022)… was the first Head Coach to led National Teams at both the FIFA Women’s World Cup (2007, 2011, 2015) and men’s FIFA World Cup (2022)... served as Canada team staff at three FIFA youth tournaments (U-20 at Japan 2012 and Costa Rica 2014; U-17 at Jordan 2016)… across 108 international “A” matches in seven years with Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team, posted 62 wins, 14 draws and 32 losses... across 57 international “A” matches in six years with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, posted 35 wins (record), eight draws and 14 losses...

as Head Coach, part of the Canada Soccer team that met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill on 6 June 2016 ahead of their international match one day later in Ottawa... as Head Coach, part of the Canada Soccer team that met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 15 November 2021 ahead of their FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match one day later in Edmonton (a surprise visit by the Prime Minister at a training session)...

wrote Jason deVos in 2017, “John’s support for the principles of long-term player development, including the use of age and stage appropriate training activities and game formats, highlights that the pathway to elite levels in soccer begins with the grassroots... his approach supports the principle that focusing on teaching young players the fundamentals of the game at the grassroots level gives them the best opportunity to reach elite levels of the sport”...

said Rhian Wilkinson in 2017, “John has affected all of us in huge ways and only a tiny piece of that is soccer related. It sounds ridiculous but he’s changed me probably as a person and I only met him when I was 29”... said Diana Matheson in 2017, “his results speak volumes, but on John's teams it's not just about the final result, it's about how you choose to get there. It matters what style of football we play, it matters who we did it with, and it matters that we are good Canadians to those that look up to us. He may be a Geordie born and raised, but he knows what it is to a great Canadian”... said Herdman in 2018, “along with Canada Soccer and the rest of the crew, we built that Women’s National Team Program back up from scratch; we built the high-performance system, we built the talent-development system, and we brought the right people in”...

said Junior Hoilett in January 2022, “what John Herdman put in place here, it’s a real brother culture and there’s no self agendas. Everybody is on the right path and everybody knows why they’re here for the National Team”...