Willie McFaul

"Willie" Iam McFaul (born January 10, 1943 in Coleraine) is a former Northern Irish football player and now coach.

McFaul joined Newcastle United from Linfield F.C. in his native Northern Ireland in 1966 after impressing in a friendly match.

He went on to serve Newcastle as player, coach, assistant manager and then finally, in 1985, as manager. He was sacked in October 1988 after a poor start saw early season optimism turn into an ultimately futile struggle against relegation.

His reputation was as a caring and loyal manager, who got the best out of a number of players including Peter Beardsley and Paul Goddard. His biggest contribution to the game was probably his decision to make Paul Gascoigne an integral part of the first team despite being only 18 at the time. McFaul has since managed teams in Northern Ireland and worked as the coach of the national team of Guam. In Northern Ireland he managed his hometown club Coleraine who are very close to his heart. Sadly things didn't go to plan and his spell as manager coincided with a lowly period in Coleraine very proud history. He did, however, discover Paul Gaston, who went on to captain Coleraine and play over 600 games for the club. It is said that McFaul discovered two great footballing talents; Paul Gascoigne and Paul Gaston!

McFaul is now working as a scout for Norwich City, professional connections having been made with Norwich Manager Glenn Roeder during Roeder's time as Newcastle United Manager.

Many Northern Ireland fans reflect that his true ability was never fully seen at international level due to it being the Pat Jennings era.