By Neto Baptiste
England-born coach Tom Curtis and former national player, Mikele Leigertwood are reported to be the front-runners for the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s top coaching positions.
This is according to sources close to the national association who said Curtis, a former technical director and head coach in Antigua from 2011 to 2012, could be named by the association this week as head coach of the senior national team and is set to be assisted by Leigertwood who is also based in England.
Further to those reports, Observer media was reliably informed that the FA is set to name a training squad on Friday for pending CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers set to start in March. The squad will reportedly be handled by three local coaches, George Warner, Lenny Hewlett and Schyan Jeffers, until the arrival of both Curtis and Leigertwood.
In March 2011, Curtis was appointed the national technical director and head coach of both the Antigua and Barbuda Benna Boys and what was then the country’s lone professional team, Antigua Barracudas which was in its first season in the United Soccer Leagues Professional Division.
During Curtis’ tenure, Antigua and Barbuda rose to 79 in the world and also reached the semi-final stages of CONCACAF World Cup qualification.
The Englishman, however, left the role on 23 October 2012 before returning to the UK to take up the role of academy manager at Bristol Rovers in November 2012.
Meanwhile, England-based Leigertwood represented the Antigua and Barbuda Benna Boys between 2008 and 2012.
The former midfielder would have also turned out for English clubs like Reading, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers.
Efforts to reach president of the ABFA, Everton Gonsalves, proved futile while General Secretary Rohan Hector could not confirm the reports.