Thirty-two years after arriving in Australia to create a new life for his family, Howard Stubbs found himself in a dreaded queue.
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The England-born married father of three had lost his job as Northern Inland Football's technical director.
A decade after arriving in Tamworth to fill that role, after 22 years spent in Lismore, he followed the then NIF general manager, Julia Farina, out the door due to COVID-induced budgetary constraints.
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After years spent "building up" relationships with his staff, Stubbs said losing his job was "difficult".
"But that's the nature of football," he added, "especially the financial constraints that you have to deal with."
The uncertainty of that time was eased somewhat when NIAS asked the naturalised Australian to advise its football coaches.
And a year after being made redundant, the 56-year-old has been appointed NIAS's first full-time technical director of football.
"Obviously they [NIAS] saw some issues," he said, "and advertised the role full-time, and I applied and took the role."
Stubbs hails from Congleton, in Cheshire, near Manchester. His involvement in the textiles industry - specifically, textiles technology - was the catalyst for his move to Lismore, which he described as "huge".
He initially played football in his new home, before transitioning to coaching. "It was a bit of a culture shock," he said of the relocation.
But with three young children in tow, leaving frigid northern England for the warmth and beaches of northeastern NSW was "a fantastic experience", he added.
"It was a great opportunity to bring kids up here - education wise and climate wise; everything was totally different."
Football has been Stubbs's "passion" from a young age, when he started playing and went on to represent his county.
"A lot of the professional players move into coaching [in England]," he said. "So I think it was lucky coming here to Australia and having the opportunity to coach."
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Mark Bode
I’m passionate about writing stories that resonate with people. And I’m genuinely interested in the people I interview; I want to know about them and present their stories in a meaningful way.
I’m passionate about writing stories that resonate with people. And I’m genuinely interested in the people I interview; I want to know about them and present their stories in a meaningful way.
