Noel Mooney is presenting the exits of Piet Cremers and Chris Gunter as proof that Wales can keep producing coaches. The harder job is the immediate one, because the FAW now has to fill two roles at once.

Mooney's succession pitch

Mooney's public line is simple enough. "We're always looking for the next steps," the FAW chief executive said, while also adding: "Straight away we've got a conveyor belt of talent of coaches."

That is the message Wales want out there after Cremers left his role as assistant to Wales men's boss Craig Bellamy to become head coach of Club NXT, Club Brugge's youth academy. Cremers, 31, had been one of Bellamy's first appointments in August 2024 after working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as head of performance analysis and insights.

The other departure is just as immediate for the staff around Wales. Chris Gunter, 36, recently led Wales at the Uefa men's Under-19s Championship before linking up with former international team-mate Aaron Ramsey at Oxford United.

The FAW's replacement search

Mooney said Dave Adams, the FAW's chief football officer, will lead the process and take a recommendation to the board. He also said the FAW is looking at all age groups and wants bright young coaches with Pro Licences to fill the places.

That gives the conversation a practical edge. Mooney is talking about a pipeline, but the federation still has to identify the next people in the system, and it has to do that quickly after losing two staff members with different backgrounds and responsibilities.

There is also a wider point in the way Mooney has framed it. He said Wales is well known around the world for its world-class coach education system, so the departures are being sold not as a setback, but as a sign that the pathway is working well enough to keep replenishing itself.

The test now is whether the FAW can turn that confidence into appointments without a long delay. Cremer's move to Club NXT and Gunter's switch to Oxford United leave Wales with vacancies that need filling immediately, and Mooney has already set the expectation that the replacements will come from the next wave.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →