Summary
Football360 spoke to Hull City’s Australian fan favourite Richard Garcia ahead of the club’s return to the Premier League with a Socceroo in their ranks.
Watch or listen to the conversation above, on YouTube, or via Football360 Today on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
We also discussed Garcia’s coaching ambitions and his current roles with Australia’s Under-20s and Western Australia NPL club Olympic Kingsway.
Socceroos star Lucas Herrington is about to find himself in a “close-knit community” in Hull, a place that loves their football but where he’ll hear plenty of familiar voices with a popular rugby league team as well.
Former Hull City star Richard Garcia, a 2010 World Cup Socceroo who spent five years at the club, through an historic promotion campaign from the Championship to Premier League, was buzzing over Herrington’s arrival at his old club.
Speaking on Football360 Today, Garcia, who made Herrington captain in the Australian under-20s, says he thinks the city will take a liking to the young Socceroo and that when he heard the news he thought it was a “fantastic decision”.
“It’s a very close-knit community. It’s a small city, but really passionate supporters,” he said.
“Very much a rugby league town; they do love their football and they really get behind it. I think it’s a city that really wants their team to be in the Premier League and will back them regardless – that was one of the things that first attracted me to the club.
“(Back then) they’d never been in the Premier League before. They had huge ambition. And I think the year before I went there, they were around 15th or 16th in the Championship. And I played against them and they still had 20,000 fans to the game…that’s testament to them as a city and a group of fans that they were still supporting their team when they were 17th, 18th and getting 20,000 to a game.
“For us to then go on the next year and make the Premier League and get promoted was massive for the city.
“I feel like he’s going to enjoy his time there because they’re a city that really get behind their players regardless of how they’re doing.”
He added: “Really happy for Lucas.
“I had him in the UEFA tournament and we had him in the under-20s camp quite a bit and he’s such a good person and a good player as well.
“He’s shown that he’s very, very capable, very calm and collected character. So I was really excited for him to go to the World Cup and then for him to go and perform and do everything.
“Now to see him at Hull City is even better!
“It’s testament to him and really just shows you how quickly football can change and how quickly it can move.”
Richard Garcia (right) playing for Hull.
Herrington’s agent Buddy Farah has explained to football360.com.au why Hull was the city they chose in the end, and Garcia agrees it is a fitting move.
“H’s going to have a great opportunity to play. I feel he’s going to have opportunities to stake a claim and it’s going to be a good test for him because again it’s going to be another step up from what he’s used to and it’s not going to be tournament modes like the World Cup,” he assessed.
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“It’s going to be week in, week out. I think the biggest thing he’s going to (find) challenging is possibly the load of games and being able to handle that. He’s still a young guy and I still think he’s got some growing to do and he’s probably got some filling out to do.
“So I think he’s going to get good experience but I’m pretty sure he’s got the mentality and the quality to be able to handle it.
“When I heard the news, I thought it was a fantastic decision.
“Considering he had options to go to other European clubs or whatever might have transpired or what might not have, I thought it was the right opportunity because of the opportunity to possibly be able to get quite a bit of game time. That’s important at any age.
“He could have gone to a bigger club and then gone out on loan and stuff like that. But if he’s doing well and playing in games, you’re on display. And I think that’s an important thing for most kids to be able to.
“One, have patience to be able to play and earn your spot. But two, also to be able to have the opportunity to play to show what you’re capable of doing, because that grows confidence…so I think it’s a right move in that regard that he’s actually going to get those opportunities, I believe.”
Back in the top flight for the first time in a decade, Garcia has no concerns that the tension of a possible survival fight will interfere with Herrington’s debut campaign.
“I think that’ll be fine. I don’t think Hull City supporters are expecting of them competing for the championship or anything like that. I’m pretty sure they’re in the mindset of if we survive, it’s going to be great. And I think they’ll surprise a few people this year. They’re still trying to sign some more players.
“For Lucas, as an individual, I think he’s going to have opportunities to play and to stake a claim for his position as well.
“I think he’s going to do really well there. All around it’s been a pretty good move for him. And I think the city will take to him as well because they tend to take to Aussies. There’s been a few over the time. So they do like an Aussie there and especially with the connection with rugby league, they like us even more.”
Like Brad Maloney explained of his time with Herrington in the Joeys, Garcia, the Under-20s assistant coach to Trevor Morgan, explained that the youngster’s “mentality” was what set him apart: “I think his mentality was probably something that stood out. He’s very measured. He came into the under 20s set up when we were qualifying for the last Asian Cup and then he came in and was part of the Asian Cup squad.
“His mentality around his own ability, he never got upset if he was in or out of the squad. He just tried his best all the time. He was very calm and collected when he was asked to perform in those big moments and did really, really well.
“He was becoming one of the leaders in this next batch of players that we’re now trying to qualify with for the next Asian Cup. We started off with him at a UEFA tournament that I took as lead coach. And he was my captain and obviously he had the experience of previous years with the under 20s.
“Then we lost him to the senior team!”
Those qualities will help him, Garcia hopes, in the furnace of the Premier League when he’ll inevitably ride highs and lows.
He’ll be a youngster in that group, but he’s always been playing in older age groups – and has become a quiet leader already.
“It has a huge effect and for someone who probably doesn’t talk a lot, he’s not a talker, (but when) he talks when people listen, I think because he doesn’t talk so much, right?
“So I think the fact that he’s calm in the game as well as off the park as well and in very, very measured in what he does, it’s a great attribute to have at such a young age.
“That’s something that players probably don’t get until they mature a little bit, until they’ve had a bit of experience. So for him to have it at such a young age is a great attribute for him to be able to succeed.”
Garcia has only fond memories of his time in Hull, which he visited again in March, a club where he scored in their playoff quest and also became both their first Premier League away goal scorer and first representative at a World Cup.
“It was such a good part of my life and my career,” he reminisced.
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“Both my kids were born in Hull as well, so that’s a little bit special to me as well. So that period of my life was very, very good. Fond memories of that place.”
That included delirious fans invading the pitch to celebrate winning a playoff semi-final and then walking out at a packed Wembley for the final.
“How can you sort of really put that into words? 88,000 people, one side in amber and gold and the other side in red. And that’s a massive, massive game, for the first time in the club’s history, again, it’s another massive, massive thing for the city and just a great highlight in your career because not many times do you have an opportunity to be able to do that, not only for yourself and for the team, but for a whole city that has been crying out for Premier League footy for a long, time.”
While Herrington, Irankunda and co can provide inspiration for every young Australian football, Garcia had another interesting take as well, through the lens of his role as Australia’s Under-20s assistant coach.
“The most important thing is that the majority of players should really be focusing on their journey because I think you can really get caught up in, ‘I was neck and neck with this guy and now he’s shot off into the stratosphere’. People have different journeys and I think that’s probably part of our role in the under 20s, trying to educate these guys to understand that football has ups and downs and that not everyone has that shot to stardom like Lucas has had.”
Four years after finishing up as Perth Glory coach, Garcia balances his under-20s assistant role with being technical director of Olympic Kingsway in Western Australia’s top flight, where former Socceroos midfielder Neil Kilkenny has joined him and will take on the coaching reigns this weekend.
They will get pipped for first place by Bayswater for the league, but will be eyeing silverware in the top four cup over the next month.
“I’m loving coaching,” he beamed.
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“I think it’s something that I’ve had a little bit of a hiatus as far as full-time football day in, day out with the international stuff. And it’s been great being able to be part of the international set up. And it’s something that I’m looking to get back into, that everyday set up, that full-time football, which is fantastic.
“I love the fact that you’re able to give you knowledge to players. I love the fact that you’re able to affect players’ mentality and affect the way that they play and try and get the best out of people, right? And I think that’s sort of the biggest thing about coaching is that whoever you’ve got, you’ve got to try and get the best out of them. And that’s something that I really thrive off and I really feel that I can do a good job at. So for me, getting the best out of people is a reward within itself and that then turns into wins and to everything else.
“It’s something that I’m really enjoying. When you’re in football, it’s always a part of you. And I think this is probably the next best thing to playing is coaching and being part of football in a different sense and being able to pass on knowledge and all that sort of stuff is fantastic.”
Hull City’s first match of the Premier League season is at 930pm AEST against Manchester United.