Director of Coaching -- a post which the Bermuda Football Association has advertised both locally and abroad during the past six months.

The campaign for the vacant position ended last week when the association concluded advertising in The FIFA News , a publication that is circulated worldwide.

BFA president Charlie Marshall was unable to reveal any names of individuals who had applied or give an indication of the final number of applicants that responded, but he did claim that the reaction was positive and that it was likely that a capable person would be chosen from those who have shown interest.

"The response has been quite good although I am unaware of the exact number who have replied. I think we should be able to find a person to suit our needs,'' said Marshall.

Although no Bermudian applied when the post was advertised locally, Marshall said that in addition to an individual applying from Yugoslavia, among the other applicants he knew of some were from European countries, as well as Zaire and South America.

Once again he stressed that the person being sought would be required to do more than the normal duties requried for coaching a national team. The successful applicant would also have to work closely with the education department and assist with the overall development of young people.

"The director of coaching will help to develop both our domestic and national programme and work within the network of the schools at both a primary and second level and also with the clubs,'' said Marshall.

"His work will require a little different concept than just coaching. He will definitely need to have a strong academic background to implement the various programmes that we would like to see developed.'' Although he is not directly involved in interviewing applicants for the vacant position of Administrative Assistant, Marshall did reveal that there were a number of professionals, male and female, who were included among the 40 who responded for the $41,000 post.

"The process of interviewing the applicants is ongoing and I don't know how many females have applied, but I understand there have been quite a few,'' said the president.

"There have been quite a few professional people who have applied and with their competent background in business we should find a good individual.'' Asked what he thought were the reasons for the overwhelming response for the post, Marshall attributed it to both the recent recession and to the fact that the position was one with a "high profile''.

"There are some very top administrators out of work, businesses have been forced to make cuts,'' he noted. "There could be many reasons during the present climate for the good response to the advertisement,'' he noted.