Former Liverpool and France manager Gerard Houllier has been teed up to speak to Europe’s top golf professionals this autumn.
Houllier, who was named UEFA Coach of the Year in 2001, will bring his coaching expertise to the fore as one of the key speakers at the PGAs of Europe Teaching & Coaching Conference in Birmingham this October.
The 61-year-old former Reds boss, whose trophy-laden career also includes managing French football giants Paris St Germain and Olympique Lyons, will join a prestigious list of speakers from the golf industry including renowned club maker Tom Wishon, 2008 USPGA coach of the year Martin Hall and Tiger Woods’ first coach Rudy Duran.
Houllier is the latest in a line coaches from other sports to bring their expertise to the golfing world and T&CC project manager Jonathan Wright expressed satisfaction at securing such a high-profile speaker after months of negotiations.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to secure Gerard Houllier as one of our key speakers and we are delighted that he has agreed to attend the Conference,” said Wright. “At previous PGA conferences we’ve staged we have liked to bring in experts from other sports, such as Bill Beswick, who worked with Steve McLaren at Middlesbrough, and rugby world cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward, both of whom went down very well.
“With this being a European conference Gerard Houllier ticks all the boxes given his achievements in football across the continent. He has a carved out a great reputation as a coach and in developing players and successful teams.
“I am sure he will prove a popular speaker with this year’s delegates and joins an expanding list of speakers that still has more names to be revealed in the near future as we finalise the line-up for this autumn’s event.”
This year’s conference, which is being staged in the UK for the first time in its history, is being held at the ICC from 22-24 October.
The biennial event, which has previously been held in Munich and Malmo, attracts more than 1,000 professionals from across the globe. Anyone wishing to attend can find out more by logging onto www.pgaetcc.com
ICC www.theicc.co.uk