Championship-winning coach James Pascoe hopes to repay Charlestown Azzurri for giving him his start when he returns to the NPL men's Northern NSW club for 2023.
Pascoe was confirmed as Azzurri's new head coach on Monday, and Adamstown striker Kyle Munns and former AIS scholarship player Luke Callen were announced as his first signings.
A former Jets Youth coach and a grand final winner with Lambton Jaffas in 2017, Pascoe replaces Graham Law at Azzurri, who finished fourth this year.
Pascoe returns to the league after leaving Jaffas six rounds into their premiership-winning 2021 campaign. He revealed on Tuesday that he left the top job at Lambton when his wife, Angela, was diagnosed with cancer. She has recovered and Pascoe was now keen to coach again "where it all started for me". He played at Highfields Azzurri then coached juniors there before rising to the top job for 2005 to 2007.
"That was all part of it, when they contacted me about it," Pascoe said.
"Hopefully I can put something back into them as repayment for giving me a chance as a young, inexperienced guy. I come back at the other end of the spectrum and hopefully we can help out with some direction on and off the field."
Pascoe inherits a strong roster, which includes former A-League players Nigel Boogaard, Taylor Regan and Jacob Melling. Young striker Riley Smith (Broadmeadow) is the only major loss so far and Pascoe hopes to coax veterans Matt Tull and Rene Ferguson into playing on.
"I think Graham did a really good job," Pascoe said of Azzurri's squad. "I think he's probably built three-quarters of the cake and iced it with the A-League boys.
"We've probably got a little bit more squad building to do in terms of getting a few more experienced first-team boys in the mix, so the depth doesn't fall away. Another four or five boys will build that cake even more."
He hoped Munns could help fill the void left by leading scorer Smith.
"He had a breakout year a couple of seasons ago as a 17-year-old and then struggled a bit with some injury issues last season," he said of Munns.
"But he's certainly one that's got some potential and he'll be a decent fit for us. We lose Riley, a young boy with his best football in front of him, and we add one in the same category."
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