Westside Grovely FC are delighted to announce the appointment of Skie “Hano” Hanifin as the new Men’s Director of Football.

Hano joins the club following some outstanding achievements over the years, including four seasons coaching NPL Women’s teams (Moreton Bay United, Capalaba & Brisbane City), and two seasons with St George Willawong, which saw a Grand Final win and Promotion to FQPL 2.

This success is paired with experience coaching Under 18 and junior age groups, helping players develop and follow a pathway to senior football.

As the Director of Football, Hano has been overseeing a vast range of operational changes and squad rejuvenation for Westside Grovely’s FQPL 5 2024 season.

“We’re retaining and recruiting with the goal of creating a pathway through our under 23s, and setting the club up for long-term success. It’s great to see that there are now players in the squad who are 17 or 18 and have the potential to come through and do well, which hasn’t been the case for a while”, Hano says.

When discussing the year ahead, he added, “the new players that have come in this year, and the players that were here last year, will see a big change in the way things are run.

We are in a rebuilding phase, but if we can build a squad with real depth, there will be more competition for places and a higher quality of football across both grades.

We want to set a high standard for the players to follow, and show the guys that are coming down to trial that Westside is a good place to play.

We’re building something positive here.

In saying that, we know that there’s always strength in the league, and one or two teams who will be very strong run away with it. You can see the recruitment that’s going on around the league – there is a lot going on with the other teams, and we want to be competitive across the league this year while also acknowledging where we are at.

We’ve got some good new players who offer a lot for the season ahead. We all need to chip in and work together. We don’t want another year like last year. Whenever I go somewhere, I have a full emphasis on success. We need to move from where we were and put in the hard yards to achieve our goals for the year ahead.”

While there are changes happening on the field, there is a lot of positive progress being made off it too.

Hano credited the hard work of the committee and volunteers at the club.

“I’m very excited about the progress that’s been made, especially with the projects on the new playing fields and facilities.

There is a real sense of change around the club, the players are excited to get on the pitch, and the hard work behind the scenes is creating a great place to play football.

We’re hoping that these changes and the quality of what we have to offer will be clear to the footballing community and teams that visit Westside this year.”

The club is ecstatic to have someone with Hano’s experience and enthusiasm on board, and we can’t wait for the 2024 season to get underway at Grovely Sports Ground.