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Fergal Forde
A former NCAA Division I men’s soccer player and longtime coach, Forde originally joined Clayton State as an assistant men’s and women’s soccer coach in August of 2014. He was named interim head women’s soccer coach on March 21, 2016 before being named to the full-time position on June 26, 2017.
CLAYTON STATE (2014-PRESENT, WOMEN’S HEAD COACH, MEN’S & WOMEN’S ASSISTANT)
Serving as the head coach of the women’s program since 2016, Forde has compiled a career record of 20-23-5 while developing players that have achieved a number of achievements.
Those have included CoSIDA Academic All-America and All-District honors for Maria Marti Bartis (2016) as well as Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year recognition that same year. She was also one of two Daktronics/D2CCA All-Region selections along with Ann-Cathrin Zabel (2017) while Jessica Charman became the first PBC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in school history in 2017.
His program has also produced a number of PBC honors, including three All-Conference selections, five weekly award winners and an impressive 16 All-Academic honorees.
Under Forde’s leadership, the Lakers have reached the PBC Tournament in two of his first three seasons and posted several eye-catching results. The first of those came on September 10, 2017 when they defeated Division I The Citadel 1-0 at Laker Field, marking just the second win over a team from that level in program history and the first ever at home.
That same season they lost a 2-1 nail biter to No. 9 Carson-Newman, the eventual NCAA Division II National Runner-Up. In that game they led the Eagles for 24 minutes – in a season that they trailed a grand total of 42 minutes.
Another impressive result came against No. 13 North Georgia on October 15, 2018 as Clayton State notched an improbable 1-1 tie at Laker Field. Incredibly, that came playing with 10 players for the final 55-plus minutes.
As an assistant for both programs, Forde helped the men’s soccer program to a 15-15-2 overall record and 8-10 mark in Peach Belt Conference action and the women’s team to a strong 22-15-1 overall mark. The latter also went 12-9-1 in the PBC.
In 2014, both teams reached the semifinals of the PBC Tournament and the quarterfinals the following year. Between the two clubs, he helped them produce one CoSIDA Academic All-American, two CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, 12 All-Region selections, 12 All-PBC honorees and 15 PBC weekly award winners. Additionally, he helped the women’s program to a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 3 North Georgia on October 14, 2015.
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY (2010, MEN'S SOCCER ASSISTANT)
At the college level, Forde was an assistant men’s soccer coach at Division II Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee during the 2010 season. During that campaign, he helped the Bucs reach the championship game of the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
The following season, the players he helped recruit would go 15-4-1, win the GSC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. Forde also served as the assistant coach for the women’s soccer and boys U-16 programs at KR Reykjavik Iceland in 2009 and 2010.
BALLINA TOWN F.C. IRELAND SENIOR MEN’S TEAM (2011-14)
Prior to coming on staff, he served as the Director of Coaching for the Ballina Town F.C. Ireland Senior Men’s Team, assuming that role after becoming the program’s head coach in 2011 and serving in that capacity through 2014.
PLAYING CAREER: UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (1993-97)
Before beginning his coaching career, he was a member of the University of Memphis soccer program from 1993-97, helping the Tigers reach new levels of success during that time. Finishing with career totals of 30 goals, 13 assists and 73 points in 73 games, Forde helped Memphis to three double-digit victory campaigns, including the 1993 Great Midwest Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
That season the Tigers went 13-9-2 with an impressive home mark of 10-2-1. Both the tournament championship and NCAA appearance were firsts in the history of the program and have each only been matched once in the ensuing years, both in 2004. Following an 11 win season in 1994, Forde was a member of the first Memphis soccer team to play in Conference-USA in 1995.
After falling to No. 2 Saint Louis just 1-0 in the C-USA Quarterfinals that year, the Tigers returned with another 11 win campaign during his senior season and upset the third-seeded Billikens in the opening round of the 1996 conference tournament.
In both of those seasons, Forde made program history while receiving personal accolades for his accomplishments on the field. In 1995 he was one of the first two players in team history (along with Bernard Licari) to earn All-Conference USA honors, doing so with Second-Team recognition, before duplicating that honor at the First-Team level as a senior in 1996.
EDUCATION
A 1997 graduate of the University of Memphis, Forde holds a Bachelor’s of Science in International Business as well as a coaching UEFA B License. In 2016 he earned his Master’s in Health Administration from Clayton State.
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