Owen Coyle: India should make use of more talents from overseas like Ryan Williams Ryan Williams’ goal in the AFC Cup Asian Cup qualifier against Hong Kong China here three weeks ago was perhaps the brightest spot in a season of gloom for Indian football. The inclusion of the Australian born striker to the Indian team is, in fact, the best thing to have happened for Indian football for a long time.
That should open the door for more players like Williams, raised overseas but eligible to represent India. Owen Coyle, the widely respected coach with vast experience in India and a former striker who has played in the English Premier League and for Ireland, believes India should look out for such talents from overseas.
READ | The Ryan Williams interview — India forward speaks about naturalisation, Indian football and more
And Coyle, who is back in India as the coach of Jamshedpur FC, reminds one that he is qualified to speak about it. “I was born in Scotland of Irish parents but grew up in Ireland, which I was able to represent in international football,” he told Sportstar.
“My dad left Donegal in Ireland to go to Scotland for work. My point is that if an Indian couple from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkata leave the country and they go to Manchester and they have a child, that child is not any less Indian because he’s born in Manchester: he is as Indian as any. The diaspora of India all over the world is incredible, so there should be plenty of footballing talents available.”
He feels India has the potential to do much better in international football and that the ISL has got a lot of things right. “What I can say from my experience is that when I came to India, the stadiums, the playing fields have been of a very high standard,” says Coyle, whose first assignment in India was with Chennaiyin FC, which he took to the ISL final from the bottom of the table in 2019-20. “What we want to do is to encourage more fans to come. I was in Chennai with 11 million people, and you want fans coming to the stadium to support the team.”
Coyle, who has experienced the joy of getting promoted to the Premier League both as coach and player (with Bolton Wanderers and Burnley respectively), wishes the Indians were more loyal. “I think in India, there is an element, maybe not with all the teams, but there is this element that fans support their team when they’re winning,” he says. “That should change.”
Published on Apr 20, 2026
#Owen #Coyle #India #talents #overseas #Ryan #Williams
Ryan Williams’ goal in the AFC Cup Asian Cup qualifier against Hong Kong China here three weeks ago was perhaps the brightest spot in a season of gloom for Indian football. The inclusion of the Australian born striker to the Indian team is, in fact, the best thing to have happened for Indian football for a long time.
That should open the door for more players like Williams, raised overseas but eligible to represent India. Owen Coyle, the widely respected coach with vast experience in India and a former striker who has played in the English Premier League and for Ireland, believes India should look out for such talents from overseas.
READ | The Ryan Williams interview — India forward speaks about naturalisation, Indian football and more
And Coyle, who is back in India as the coach of Jamshedpur FC, reminds one that he is qualified to speak about it. “I was born in Scotland of Irish parents but grew up in Ireland, which I was able to represent in international football,” he told Sportstar.
“My dad left Donegal in Ireland to go to Scotland for work. My point is that if an Indian couple from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkata leave the country and they go to Manchester and they have a child, that child is not any less Indian because he’s born in Manchester: he is as Indian as any. The diaspora of India all over the world is incredible, so there should be plenty of footballing talents available.”
He feels India has the potential to do much better in international football and that the ISL has got a lot of things right. “What I can say from my experience is that when I came to India, the stadiums, the playing fields have been of a very high standard,” says Coyle, whose first assignment in India was with Chennaiyin FC, which he took to the ISL final from the bottom of the table in 2019-20. “What we want to do is to encourage more fans to come. I was in Chennai with 11 million people, and you want fans coming to the stadium to support the team.”
Coyle, who has experienced the joy of getting promoted to the Premier League both as coach and player (with Bolton Wanderers and Burnley respectively), wishes the Indians were more loyal. “I think in India, there is an element, maybe not with all the teams, but there is this element that fans support their team when they’re winning,” he says. “That should change.”
Published on Apr 20, 2026
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