Samoan Football is expected to benefit from the recent appointment of two new coaches for the national men's and women's teams.

The national Football Federation President (F.F.S.), Papalii Samuel L Petaia said the new coaches are experienced and he looks forward to new initiatives from the pair. 

"No doubt they are experienced coaches whom we expect will bring new ideas and a fresh outlook to further develop and improve our national teams. We wish them well on their new appointments," said Papalii via email to Samoa Observer. 

The new coaches are Paul Ifill and Matt Calcott. 

According to Oceania Football Confederation (O.F.C.) reports, Ifill is a former coach for the Wellington Phoenix and will coach the women's national team and Calcott, who is an ex-Team Wellington boss, will coach the men's team.

Both are familiar with the new F.F.S. Technical Director, Jess Ibrom who said Ifill’s recruitment was an important step to helping grow the women’s game. 

“I’ve known of Paul since I was Head of Academy at the Wellington Phoenix and I’ve been fortunate to see closely what Paul has given to the game in New Zealand not just as a professional footballer but also as a coach with the Wairarapa women’s team and his own private academy,” said Ibrom in the O.F.C. report.

“There’s a huge amount of potential in the women’s game in Samoa and the game is growing at a rapid rate as we gear towards the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023. Paul deserves this opportunity and I know he’s very keen to get going as soon as possible.”

Calcott is the Director of Football for North Wellington AFC and Ibrom said Calcott would bring a strong knowledge of Pacific football to the position.

 “He knows what it takes to be competitive at the international level as well have experienced a number of OFC Champions League campaigns, which will be invaluable to us.  We are building the credibility of all the national teams and bringing in experienced senior coaches such as Matt will only enhance this strategy for us.”

According to O.F.C., Samoa has recently launched a new strategy to scout players who are eligible to represent Samoa. 

Ifill told the Oceania Confederation that his aim is to make the best out of the people he will be working with whether they are players, coaches, or managers while Calcott said he believes it is very important to work on scouting players and talent ID networks and he wants to ensure that groups are working physically especially the ones residing in Samoa.