Nauru appoint former Premier League player

Oceania correspondent for:

Nauru have named their new national team manager and international ambassador.

Dave Kitson (right) has been hired as new Nauru team manager.

That man is former Reading, Stoke, Portsmouth and Sheffield United player Dave Kitson.

Kitson, who has played 81 times in the English Premier League and 155 times in the Championship, scoring a total of 69 goals, was announced as the small island nations new team manager on Thursday.

“The Nauru Soccer Federation are delighted to announce the appointment of former Premier League star Dave Kitson as our new national team manager and international ambassador”, the Nauru Soccer Federation wrote on their website.

Kitson will work with another Englishman, national team head coach Charlie Pomroy.

According to Nauru Director of International Development Gareth Johnson, who also runs the company Young Pioneer Tours, the move has been in the works for some time.

“I first came into contact with Dave during 2020 through our mutual interest in travel when we began discussing a few projects, one of them being Nauru. As things have quickly progressed I am now happy to be in a position to offer him the management role”.

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Johnson tells Football in Oceania they are really excited about hiring Kitson.

“He genuinely cares about the project. One of the reasons for such a high profile appointment is to help the game, not just in Nauru, but the whole region,” he says.

He also breaks another piece of news. Nauru and the other non-OFC teams in the region, are planning to set up a regional federation.

“I recently spoke to the Presidents in the region and we’ve agreed to set up a Micronesia Football Federation and ideally run a tournament next summer”

Plans are for Kiribati, Micronesia, Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands to join.

Naurua have also announced plans to play American Samoa later this year.

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