York’s Steve McLaren was appointed as the coach of the Jamaica National Team, replacing former coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, after a poor run in form. McLaren’s mission is to turn around Jamaica’s recent fortunes and guide them to their second-ever FIFA World Cup.
Jamaica had a disappointing run in the 2024 Copa America, and under McLaren’s leadership, their goal is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which will feature an expanded field of forty-eight teams.
Since his appointment, Jamaica has lost only two of the eight games he has been in charge, both defeats coming against the USA.
Jamaica currently sit 2nd in their World Cup qualifying group, winning two from two. Jamaica have only ever qualified for one World Cup in 1998, and McLaren’s aim is to make that two.
Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey is one of McLaren’s stand out players in the set up. However, McLaren is trying to expand his pool of players by looking overseas for potential stars. McLaren said “There are about fifty to sixty players from seventeen upwards who can represent Jamaica, and they’re all playing high levels.”
Earlier career
Steve McLaren, born in York, has had a varied managerial career with stints at Middlesbrough, England, Twente, VfL Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers, and now Jamaica. After McLaren’s long stint at Middlesbrough, he has never gone on to manage a team for longer than two years, with arguably his worst stint as a manager coming at Newcastle United.
McLaren and his side went eight games without a win and had Newcastle in a league position they could not recover from, leading to relegation after McLaren’s dismissal. Despite his experience, McLaren has only won two major trophies in his twenty-four years in management.
This is McLaren’s second international managerial role, following his spell with England in 2006, where he failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
Before returning to Manchester United for a second spell, McLaren worked as a FIFA technical director, where he analysed Jamaica as part of his role.
McLaren told Sky Sports: “Prior to returning to Manchester United for a second spell, I spent time at FIFA as a Technical Advisor on their Global Eco Analysis project. Jamaica was one of the teams I worked with, and I quickly came to realize the potential the country possessed,” McLaren said.
The opportunity to coach Jamaica came around rather “unexpectedly,” but McLaren had no hesitation in accepting a position that he felt was “ideally suited” to him.
McLaren will next lead his team out against Trinidad and Tobago at the GTEC Community Stadium in Brentford on the 27th May in a friendly match ahead of their World Cup Qualifiers against the British Virgin Islands and Guatemala.
