Quinton Fortune: South African hopes England U20 role can boost coaching aims

Former South Africa and Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune says he hopes his coaching staff role with England's Under-20 side can prove a springboard to bigger jobs in future.

Having started in August, Fortune's latest role as part of the England elite coach programme (EECP) comes after stints as first-team coach at Championship side Reading and with Manchester United and Cardiff City's Under-23 sides.

The 45-year-old, who was on the books at Old Trafford between 1999 and 2006, sees his new job as a stepping stone towards bigger things in the future.

"I still have ambitions of coaching at a big club. This job provides me with another way of thinking - seeing how the coaches work with younger players," he told BBC Sport Africa.

"I'm preparing myself for the time when a bigger job comes along. It doesn't have to be in England, anywhere in the world will be fine.

"For the moment I'm helping these young players improve and, from a personal point of view, getting more experience as a coach."

The EECP is a joint initiative of the Football Association and Professional Footballer's Association that was introduced in 2017 to create opportunities for coaches from Black and Asian communities to work with the England national teams to gain international coaching experience.

The role includes working with the coaching staff of the England U20 side that will be playing at the World Cup in Indonesia next May.

Fortune, who had been without a job since leaving Reading in February, admitted he was keen to get back into coaching and jumped at the opportunity when it arose.

He was part of the coaching team led by former Liverpool academy coach Ian Foster, that helped the England U20s win all three games - against Morocco, Australia and Chile - at a tournament in Spain in September.

"In addition to working with the players when we have camps, part of my job is to watch players that are in the squad or on the fringes when they are playing for their clubs," Fortune added.

"I also give as much input as I can to the young players using the experience I've gained as a player that has been to two World Cups, a few Africa Cup of Nations and, of course, playing for Manchester United."

This article originally appeared on BBC Sport

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