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Des Buckingham has signed a contract to extend his stay at Mumbai City FC and the City Football Group.
The Islanders’ head coach has reaffirmed his commitment to the team through the end of the 2024–25 season by signing a two-year extension.
After leaving his position as Assistant Coach at Melbourne City, Buckingham moved within the City Football Group and joined Mumbai City in October 2021.
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He took over the Islanders just a few weeks before the start of the 2021–22 league season. Despite the fact that Buckingham’s Mumbai City narrowly missed the ISL playoffs in his first league season, the 37-year-old Englishman had already established the groundwork for the appealing and attacking football style he intended to introduce to the team.
As Buckingham and Mumbai City went on to make history at the 2022 AFC Champions League, the foundational work soon paid off.
Mumbai City finished in an unprecedented second place in the Group Stage, narrowly missing out on advancement to the knockout stages, and became the first Indian club to win two games at Asia’s top club football competition.
Buckingham led Mumbai City to the Durand Cup Final in the club’s inaugural participation as his side displayed free-flowing, attacking football—a hallmark style of clubs in the CFG family—while having the chance to build and fine-tune his squad over the summer of 2022.
Buckingham’s process has continued into the ongoing 2022-23 season of the ISL as Mumbai City currently sits atop the points table, unbeaten after the first 12 games of the regular season and having scored 36 goals.
Since arriving at Mumbai City, Buckingham has gone on to become the longest-serving Head Coach in the history of the Club. Having managed 45 games so far across all competitions, he has won 24 of the 45 – a 53.33%-win percentage – with Mumbai City scoring 95 goals at an average of 2.1 goals per game during his tenure.
“It gives me great pleasure to continue my time here at Mumbai City Football Club. When I came in 15 months ago, it was a new challenge for me but from the very first day, the Club, the staff and the players have trusted me and supported me so well – I cannot thank them enough,” Des Buckingham, Head Coach, Mumbai City FC said.
“In my time here, I have learnt a lot about the Club, the players, the city of Mumbai and the culture. It has truly been an experience like no other.”
“With the support of everyone at the Club and of our colleagues at City Football Group, we have worked hard on developing a philosophy and an identity at Mumbai City and I believe we are well on our way to building something special.”
“From our AFC Champions League success to playing week in week out at the Mumbai Football Arena in front of our passionate fans, I am certain that we’re only getting started. I am happy that I can be a part of this great family for the foreseeable future and I hope we can bring success to this great club and this wonderful city.”
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