Confirmed: Shawn Bishop leaving Sundowns head of academy post

Bishop will join an as yet unnamed club in Europe next season. 

“It’s an opportunity that I couldn’t say no to, but the official announcement regarding that will come from Sundowns. The board, the chairman and everybody have been involved in the process,” he elaborated. 

“From Sundowns there’s no other African club you can go to. I felt that for my growth this is something I needed to do. I am planning to open a lot of doors for youngsters as well and see what we can do going forward.” 

Bishop completed his Master’s degree in High Performance from the University of Lisbon in Portugal last year following a trip abroad where he rubbed shoulders with elite coaches like Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas Boas and Carlos Queiroz.

It’s likely that this achievement propelled his trajectory having begun working on the Sundowns academy project during the 2015/16 season. 

“The important thing for me is the operational structures that I have put in place – the growth and the changes in the academy from when I took over from the Johan Cruyff Foundation after learning a lot from those guys,” Bishop explained. 

“I helped make sure the club has had growth and is sustainable, and the thing with academy football is that it’s a long-term athletic development plan. People think players are developed in two or three years, they are not. It’s 10 years. Sundowns are serious about development – Thando Buthelezi, Kabelo Moagi…those boys have been with us since they were 11-years old and now making their debuts in the first team.” 

One of the latest projects was women’s football, which Bishop will obviously have to hand over when he leaves on 30 June. 

“Everyone wants to work in Europe, whether you are a player, administrator or coach. I am starting at the bottom at the club I’m going to, but for me that’s fine as I am happy to have paved the way for other coaches,” he added.