RECENTLY appointed Ipswich Football Club head coach Andrew Catton enjoys living in Thagoona.

Apart from the open spaces to spend with his family, the more relaxed environment gives Andrew a chance to plot his future football strategies.

“I love it. It’s awesome, especially after living in town,” Andrew said.

Andrew was born in NSW before igniting his passion for playing and coaching in the small town of Howard in Hervey Bay.

After moving south in 2015 to teach at Ipswich Grammar School (IGS), Andrew also spent some time living at Fernvale for similar reasons.

“We [Andrew and wife Maree] both grew up in the country,” Andrew said, appreciating what that lifestyle offers.

Andrew’s youth upbringing was on a two-acre property in Howard. Maree’s childhood was on a “little’’ farm outside of Melbourne.

Before a career change last year, Andrew was a Director of Football and Cricket at IGS, along with being a sports co-ordinator at the school.

He is now settling in Thagoona with Maree, who he married in 2018, and their three and a half year-old son George.

Ever watchful coach Andrew Catton with son George.

Maree is currently working in Student Services at West Moreton Anglican College, also embracing the country benefits.

As someone used to daily challenges, Andrew has thrown himself into his new role as head coach of the recently merged club Ipswich FC, based at Flinders View.

“It’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in football,” he said.

“It’s a good challenge but it’s also going to be a massive challenge.”

However, developing youth is what Andrew thrives on.

Andrew, 37, previously coached at Western Pride in the 2020 season.

He has returned this year taking over from Garrett McDuling and his assistant Jayce Gilchrist, who resigned recently having other football goals.

Andrew’s priority has always been giving Ipswich regional players the best opportunities to further their careers.

He did that at IGS where he shared in multiple school state and national successes in competitions like the Bill Turner Cup, UhlSport Cup and ISSA Cup, along with GPS premiership victories.

“I love all those tournaments,” he said.

“They are fantastic for the kids as well because it teaches them how to win.”

Among elite players he coached were A-League striker Alex Parsons, who was IGS captain in 2017, and current Luton Town goalkeeper Henry Blackledge.

Former Pride grand final-winning star Joe Duckworth was one of Andrew’s assistant coaches, along with Parsons.

Andrew knows the value of encouraging young players, something he is investing his time in with Ipswich’s highest level side this season.

“There’s a lot of blokes running around in the NPL (National Premier League) and the QPL (Queensland Premier League) - Ipswich people that are playing in Brisbane clubs and I want to get them back,” he said.

Andrew’s team is playing in this year’s Football Queensland Premier League 1 competition.

Ipswich FC was created from a January 1 merger between Western Pride and Ipswich City.

“I think it [the merger] is going quite smoothly,” he said.

“The state of the club itself, like the working mechanisms since the merge, it’s in a fantastic state. Better than I’ve seen.

“They’ve got good people in the right spots.

“I’m pretty keen to try and foster a few ways to bring the clubs further together and show that pathway from the community space into the academy space.”

With two Ipswich clubs joining forces, players have multiple opportunities to enjoy different levels of competition from the youngest to senior football, striving to return to the NRL.

“That little MiniRoos hub that they’ve got down for under 6s to under 11s at Bulls [former Ipswich City club] is just a gold mine,” he said.

“They’ve got hundreds of kids running around down there.

“There’s no reason why we should be scraping the barrel for juniors anymore.”

Andrew’s primary focus is helping get Ipswich FC’s senior men’s side back into the state’s highest state competition.

He was impressed to see “people genuinely want to make that happen”.

Andrew started playing in Howard as a youngster after his dad Robert “was right into it” and “he just directed me towards football when I was a kid.”

The centre back pursued his playing career in the Maryborough competition.

But it was another path over a decade that expanded Andrew’s football knowledge.

“As I got a bit older, I started refereeing and it gave me a really good understanding of the game,” he said.

“It taught me to read the game really well and I was lucky to referee at a decent sort of level [in the Wide Bay area].”

Aged 20, he started coaching, building his way into junior Premier League teams and overseeing Queensland Country sides.

In 2012, he worked with a Sunshine Coast Fire under-19 side in the Queensland State League competition.

He also coached the Wide Bay Revolution under-18 side for a few years in the NPL.

After moving to the Ipswich area, Andrew honed his knowledge as a technical director at the Knights, Western Pride and most recently Olympic FC.

He completed his A-Licence while at Pride.

Andrew has worked with some of Queensland’s leading football mentors including Gabor Ganczer, Karl Dodd, former A-League coach Mike Mulvey, ex-Roar coach Warren Moon, Maryborough regional development officer Greg Caulley and former Brisbane Roar Youth coach Chris Grossmann.

He also admired the “blueprint” of 2015 NPL grand final-winning coach Graham Harvey, who worked hard to keep a core group of young players together to build success.

Andrew stepped down from his first Ipswich coaching stint after the 2020 FQPL1 season due to the impending birth of his son George.

However, he feels more settled returning to Ipswich’s highest level club living in a positive country environment like Thagoona.