Vale Dale Itchins (20 August 1957 - 18 January 2023)

Photo:  Dale Itchins in his office at Soccer House in 2008. [PlessPix] 

The death has occurred in Hobart of Dale Itchins, 65, who had a huge influence on junior coaching and Futsal in Tasmania over a period of four decades.

Itchins was a successful coach at several clubs at reserve-team and youth levels, but also did a splendid job at senior level when called upon.

He was always reluctant to coach at senior level and preferred to work at a level just below the top flight, where he developed numerous young players who went on to play successfully at senior level.

He was popular amongst his players, some of whom preferred to play in his teams than move up the ladder to senior ranks.

Itchins was a superb man manager and he employed his skills in this area, as well as using practical psychology, to get the best out of his players and the teams he coached.

He called a spade a spade and demanded discipline from his charges.

Anyone who crossed him or let him down intentionally was in danger of being assigned to what he jokingly called ‘The Muppet Bus’.

Itchins knew what he wanted in football and always had strategies to achieve his aims.  Winning was not everything to him and he placed great emphasis on player development as well.

He was employed by Soccer Tasmania, the governing body of Tasmanian football (now Football Tasmania, but previously the Tasmanian Football Federation), for over two decades in a full-time capacity in various roles as a junior coach and as an administrator.

He was always ready to play the role of a trouble-shooter, but his greatest success was as the man in charge of Futsal.

In this role, he brought considerable revenue to the governing body’s coffers.

Itchins won much silverware with his teams at a number of clubs, including Glenorchy Knights, Hobart Juventus, White Eagles, University and Olympia.

An example was the Under-23 Knock-out Cup in October 2001, when he coached Glenorchy Knights to a 1-0 triumph over Hobart Juventus.

That was a particularly successful year for Itchins as Knights’ Under-23 side completed the treble, having already won the Summer Cup and the league title earlier in the season.

Itchins did not bother to keep tabs of his successes at youth level but did sometimes give senior-level coaching a try.

In 1992, he took over Hobart Juventus seniors half-way through the season following the departure of Chris Hey.

In 1994, he coached White Eagles’ seniors in the State League.  They reached the grand final, only to lose to Devonport City.

Photo:  Dale Itchins as coach of White Eagles. [PlessPix] 

I interviewed him after this and he said:  “I’ve had one-and-a-half stints at senior level and I have experience to offer.  My record speaks for itself and I certainly haven’t disgraced myself or anybody else.”

In 1999, he faced one of the biggest challenges of his career when he coached University’s State Youth Reserve League side, whose players were considerably younger than the players from other clubs.  Players travelled from the North and North-West to train and to be a part of this team and it was basically the previous years’ State Under-15 team.

Itchins had considerable roles with State youth representative teams, either as a coach or as a manager, when they competed in national championships.

In 1998, he was manager of a Tasmanian Under-15 team, coached by Andrew Greenwood, which went to Japan for a tournament.

Itchins often took the nucleus of his teams with him when he changed clubs, which showed the loyalty his players had towards him.

In countering accusations that he never coached bad teams, Itchins replied:  “I recruit well and I pick the right players.  I want to coach good players and players that respond to what I want and there’s a bond that’s established there and it’s not just about the way we play.  I’ve had some players for four or five years and it becomes a bit like a family.  I don’t go out and recruit players that aren’t quality players.  There are different standards, but you can make average players better players and, usually, if you bring average players in with better players, they become above-average players.”

Photo:  Dale Itchins (third from left, back row) in the Rosetta High School state premiership side of 1973. [Photo courtesy of Stephen Pitchford] 

Itchins began coaching in 1983 after retiring as a player at a relatively young age and qualified as a Level 2 coach and working on a part-time basis for Soccer Tasmania.

Itchins began full-time work with Soccer Tasmania in about 1998 and was involved with youth development, special projects, indoor soccer, school holiday programs and school visitations.

He worked under David Smith, Soccer Tasmania’s General Manager at the time, and Neil Connell, Soccer Tasmania’s State Development Manager, and they remained firm friends right up until his passing.

He was also part of the Football Tasmania team during the highly successful tenure as CEO of John Boulous.

Dr Daniel Hanna, a member of the Board of Football Tasmania, said that Itchins had been a very important part of the growth of the game over the last 40 years.

“I still remember him as the manager of the Central Region rep side I played in circa 1983,” Dr Hanna said.

Itchins’s contribution to Tasmanian football was considerable and he will be fondly remembered by former players and people involved with the game in this State.

I was friends with Dale from the early 1980s and had the good fortune and the pleasure of dining with him and Dallas Joiner last year.  He was stoic about the illness that was to claim his life.  He had moved to Kempton for a quieter life as he battled his illness.

My condolences go to his family and friends.  Vale, Dale Itchins.

Photo:  Dale Itchins at Juventus training in 2010. [PlessPix]

Photo:  Dale Itchins (pointing) and Olympia president George Mamacas at Olympia training in 2016. [PlessPix]