“I'm very excited to be developing this program which already was initiated long before our last visit. It’s a huge undertaking. This project isn’t 'coaching for the weekend- it’s realizing a vision development for the future!”

LEADING HUNGARIAN CLUB PUSKAS ACADEMY INVITE GARY AND CARINE IRELAND OF THE SOCCERFUND TO TRAIN HUNGARIAN  PLAYERS AND COACHES IN 2026

Hungarian 1st Division club Puskas Academy FC has invited Soccerfund founders Gary and Carine Ireland as Technical Advisor to Puskas Academy to train its professional Boys and Girls professional Academy players ages 12-17 and to educate and collaborate with Puskas Academy coaches in the technical development aspects of the game and also assist in developing a technical player development and coach mentoring program for the Puskas Academy technical feeder program for players ages 6-12, a first of its kind in Hungarian football. 

Carine and Gary will visit Hungary frequently in 2026 including attending the Puskas Suzuki Cup between April 29-May 2 (see link) where they will be instrumental in helping organize and presenting at the Puskas Academy Technical Symposium on April 27-28 beforehand. (see link). 

At the end of May they have been invited to Budapest to run a skill development clinic prior the the UEFA Champions League Final on May 30. They will also return to Hungary in August to prepare players in pre-season fo the 2026 pre-season. 

“Carine and I have long been impressed with the Puskas Academy leaderships investment in their focus on emphasizing technical development as they aim to inspire creative, technical and entertaining players. For 20 years we’ve been working very closely with Puskas Academy head of development who has a visions of development identical to ours and we are convinced that Hungary is on the verge of making significant strides towards re-gaining its former greatness.” (Gary Ireland)

Gary and Carine have visited Puskas Academy many times. In 2022 Gary has presented to over fifty Hungarian Academy Directors, National team coaches along with former Liverpool FC Academy manager and Assistant Academy Director and England Youth team coach John Owens along with head of Individual Technical Development of the boys professional academy of Serie A club Juventus FC (see link to story) 

In 2024 Gary, Carine and Alberto prior to the Puskas Suzuki Cup presented material and provided workshops to Puskas Academy coaches and trained technical/ball mastery material to Puskas Academy boys and girls U12-17 Academy players. (see link to story) 

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban founded Puskas Academy FC located 30 minutes from Budapest in his hometown Felcsut. The club was established to pay homage to legendary Ferenc Puskas and it’s world renowned stadium named the ‘Pancho Arena’, (see video) is named after Puskas' nickname at Real Madrid and displays Puskás’ memorabilia from his playing days with Real Madrid and Hungarian national team. (see link)

The facility, considered one of Europe's most attractive and unique, serves as a training location for its men’s, women’s professional team and youth girls and boys academies which operate as a non-profit organization. The Puskas Boys Academy has over 80 players in residence (including academic) while Puskas Academy Women's is one of Hungary's leading clubs with over 50 youth & women's players in year-round residence. The Puskas Academy has 9 affiliate clubs within the Carpathian Basin Academy group located in Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Serbia. 

“I'm very excited to be developing this program which already was initiated long before our last visit. It’s a huge undertaking. This project isn’t 'coaching for the weekend- it’s realizing a vision development for the future!. In Hungary they understand that players of all ages, not only younger’s but first team professional players, need constant technical training of the highest order. Emphasizing technical development only with younger's has been a mistake made by many Academies, professional teams and national team programs for generations. While it’s not new to us and we’ve been doing this for 30 years, it’s now finally becoming mainstream and we are pleased to be on the cutting edge of this fast growing movement” (Gary Ireland) 

Puskas Academy FC also hosts the annual Puskas Suzuki U17 Cup, considered among Europe's best tournaments regularly featuring close cub partners Real Madrid along with Flamengo, Dinamo Kiev, Osijek, Honved, Sporting Lisbon, Panathinaikos, Genk, Hagi Academy, Bayern Munich and Dinamo Zagreb. (See link) 

During the past 5 years the Hungarian men’s national team has experienced a revival with star Liverpool FC player Szoboszlai leading the team. In 2021 England suffered its worst home defeat since 1928, losing to Hungary 4-0 in the Nations League soon after beating beat by England earlier 1:0 with Puskas Academy players Nagy and Sallai contributing to the goalscoring. England had not lost at home so convincingly since Hungary also beat them 6:3 in 1953. The progress of Hungarian football on the field has coincided with substantial investment through the building of stadia infrastructure and government funding of an extensive academy system. And because of the location, facilities and high quality infrastructure for the last several years Hungary has hosted many national team games, has been used as a training base for visiting professional and national team clubs and will host the 2026 Men’s UEFA Champions League Final May 30 in Budapest. 

Contact  garyjamesireland@gmail.com 650 387 4128

Hungary is the place of football legends and the Puskas name is synonymous with success. The FIFA annual award which celebrates the worlds best goal is called the 'Puskas Award' . The “Mighty Magyars” as the team was called dominated world football for a generation and their playing style was created by pioneer and innovator Englishman Jimmy Hogan who inspired ‘Total Football’ and was credited by Hungarian FA President and National team coach for Hungary's legendary 7:2 and 6:3 legendary victories over England in the 'Match of the Century.' Born 1 hour from Liverpool in the Northwest of England and attended St Bede's School in Salford/Manchester. When new things and change occur players aren't always ready for new methods and training routines. Some in England viewed Hogan's coaching with skepticism and at times mocked his method, but as other countries experienced success after they welcomed and embraced his methods. Afterwards Hogan’s legacy, Hungarian coaches and players became the most innovative, influential and successful coaches who built foundations of the future success of many national teams and clubs and were in global demand in the 50’s and 60’s with Kubala and Kocsis playing at Barcelona and the great Puskas himself at Real Madrid. Bene, Hidegkuki, Bozsik, Czibor, Detari and Nyilasi are recognized globally dominated Spanish, Italian and Portugese and European football for over 10 years. A hugely successful coaching export was Benfica's Hungarian manager Béla Guttmann, credited with the success of Benfica’s Golden Years where they were European Champions beating Barcelona in 1961 and Real Madrid in 1962. Guttman coached Hungary, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Uruguay, Portugal, AC Milan, São Paulo, Porto, Benfica and Peñarol. Another coaching export was Ernő Egri Erbstein, manager of the legendary ‘Grande Torino’ team, 5 times champion of Italy.