When he is not busy guiding the fortunes of the Derry minors, Aidy McLaughlin has a very interesting day job.
The Claudy native will be preparing his team to meet Down in this weekend’s Ulster Minor Championship and it’s a role he combines with his day job as the Operations Manager for Manchester United in Ireland.
McLaughlin, who has a wealth of experience in coaching and sports administration said it is a challenging but exciting role.
“I don’t want to talk too much about it as everybody is torturing me for tickets for Utd’s game with Leeds Utd in Croke Park on August 12,” he quipped.
The background to the job is that he worked for Queen’s University where he looked after all the sports clubs.
McLaughlin previously graduated in Sport and Exercise Science from UUJ and worked for Derry GAA and Ulster GAA before taking a positions with Ulster LGFA as a Development Officer.
He revealed that he was sitting in the house one night and saw that there was a Man Utd job base in Ireland.
He applied for it and got through four or five different interviews and presentations.
“I was lucky enough as the process was carried out through Teams here and I was lucky enough to get the job.”
Aidy McLaughlin is Operations Manager for Manchester United in Ireland (Martin Rickett/PA)
He is not the only GAA man involved as Donegal star Michael Langan is also a part of McLaughlin’s team in Ireland.
“We would link in on a lot of matters.”
So, what does the job entail?
“It is a wee bit of everything. “The CEO of the Manchester Utd Foundation is John Shiels and his father was a Derry man.
“So, he had a real soft spot for the Foyle area.
“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing for tickets for this Leeds Utd game with Man Utd in Croke Park on August 12.
“It is a full-time job and there is a link with the University of Ulster with certain courses and certain other aspects.
“I have an office at the Magee University in Derry, and we have plenty of staff.
“A lot of it is outreach in the community and in the schools.”
McLaughlin added that Man Utd’s motto is to engage, inspire and unite.
“We look at our communities, and we are now linked into Donegal where Michael Langan comes in.
“We don’t just have the football end of it as we also have the education part of it which is very important too.
“It is about educating people about unconscious bias and even showing people to conduct themselves in interviews.
“Like maybe how to walk into a room and look someone in the eye and shake their hand.
“So it is about developing emotional intelligence skills as well.
“We are finding that a lot of young people don’t have those skills.”
McLaughlin added: “We want to make universities attainable for young people in every area.
“We have a B Tech Course that runs out of the schools in Derry as well.”
Asked if there are any perks of the job.
“Yes you would get a ticket, but you would have to pay for it and I go over to Old Trafford for in-service and prep days and Michael Langan has been over there as well.”
There are six full-time staff working for Manchester United in Ireland with up to 18 part-time staff.
“Manchester Utd are very well supported in Ireland so this is where we give back something to the community,” McLaughlin said.
“We are involved also in Special Education Teams and people don’t realise just how we are involved.
“But it is a a great job and I am really enjoying it.”