Stewart Doyle

Mark Spencer

Male Scholarship Head Coach

UEFA A Licence coach with extensive experience in youth development in Coaching and Education. Previous experience with York City FC, Gateshead FC, and Darlington FC post-16 programmes. Worked in category one academy at Middlesbrough FC as an age group. Qualified to teach across the Secondary, Further/Higher education sectors in Sport and Physical Education.

Kevin Darke

Male Scholarship Head Coach

UEFA A Licence holder with over 16 years' experience working within the Women's Academy at Sunderland in various roles including Lead Coach. Extensive background in player development, having worked with players in the Foundation Phase, Youth Development Phase and 1-1 work with International Players.

Steven McClarence

Female Scholarship Head Coach

An experienced coach having spent more than a decade with Foundation of Light's female football scholarship and previously working with the Sunderland AFC Academy. 

Kirsty McFarlane

Scholarship Coach

UEFA C Licence coach and B Licence candidate with experience across Europe and in the USA, as a first-team coach at Kilmarnock FC Women, and in Performance Analysis at Rangers FC.

Ian Dipper

Scholarship Coach

UEFA B Licence holder in football and futsal coaching with over 29 years’ experience as a professional coach with Sunderland AFC and Foundation of Light. Previously works as an FA Tutor at Level 1 and 2 and Mentor for grassroots coaches in the North East.

Stephen Colquhoun

Scholarship Coach

Chris Armstrong

Scholarship Coach

Nick Lander

Scholarship Coach

Rees Greenwood

Scholarship Coach

Cameron Park

Performance Analyst / Scholarship Coach

Oliver Etchells

Sport and Rehabilitation Specialist

With prior work in football and rugby, Ollie has worked for the Foundation of Light Football Scholarship as Lead Sport and Rehabilitation Therapist for more than a year.