Joyce to the World

Two Lukes entered the world of Waterford FC yesterday. The signing of ex-Drogheda United midfielder Luke Heeney was greeted warmly by fans, but the addition of Luke Joyce, naturally enough, went under the radar. The latter Luke was announced as the new Head of Recruitment for Fleetwood Town. While he will be based in England, the link between the two clubs means Joyce will also be heavily-involved in bringing players to Waterford this winter and into the future.

The 38-year-old from Bolton was a hard-working midfielder in Leagues One and Two throughout a near-twenty-year playing career. He began with an apprenticeship at Wigan Athletic before spending six years each at Accrington Stanley and Carlisle United and a further three with Port Vale. He was signed for Accrington in the first place by former Blues boss John Coleman and played alongside Bastien Hery at Carlisle. In total, Joyce made over five hundred league appearances and actually holds the record for most EFL appearances for the decade of the 2010s.

 

 

Luke retired two years ago to get into recruitment and player development full-time. He was headhunted by Brentford’s Technical Director Lee Dykes who had been Assistant Manager and Head of Recruitment at Carlisle when Joyce played there. Dykes is the brains behind Brentford’s much-lauded recruitment system and signings such as David Raya, Christian Norgaard and Igor Thiago. He was the one who recruited Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa who were sold for a combined profit of over £100,000,000 for the Bees this summer. 

Brentford’s famed seven-step recruiting system is envied around the world and allows the Londoners to punch far above their weight. They keep records on over 85,000 players and divide the world into sections with a scout taking responsibility for each. Dykes entrusted Joyce with the important role of Lead North Scout, meaning he was in charge of analysing all players and potential transfers from the north of England. The standout signings from that section in Joyce’s two years in the role would be the Liverpool trio of Fabio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg and Caoimhin Kelleher. The approval of Dykes goes a long way in football and must have been a key factor in Fleetwood seeking Joyce’s appointment. An A-Licensed coach, he has seen football from several levels and has also run his own Luke Joyce Pro Football Academy for a number of years. 

Joyce is replacing Joe Riley as Head of Recruitment after Riley left the role earlier this year and took up a new position as Wigan’s Chief Scout in June. On his appointment yesterday, Luke told Fleetwood’s media team, “I’m excited to be joining Fleetwood Town at a really important moment for the club. I know what it takes to build strong, competitive squads and I’m looking forward to working closely with the staff to bring in players who fit the club’s identity and ambition.”

 

 

As the man in charge of recruitment for the Fleetwood group, Joyce will doubtless have plenty of dealings with Jon Daly in the coming years and, in particular, in this transfer window. The signing of Luke Heeney yesterday is a good indication of the type of player Daly will want and the priority will be to bring in a core of League of Ireland players. However, the advent of 52-week contracts and the prevalence of multi-year deals has seen far less movement within the league in recent years. Waterford will have to combine shrewd signings from other Irish clubs with some undiscovered gems from the UK or further abroad. 

Daly was adamant in his introductory press conference that he will have the final say on any signings. The new manager stated that “Recruitment is very, very difficult. It’s probably the most challenging thing to do and I don’t think it can ever fall on one person alone. I think you have to have a team behind you, but ultimately, I will have the final say on who comes in the building.” It will be Joyce’s role to provide lists of players who match the profile requested by Daly when looking for recruits from further afield. Between them, they need to find some diamonds in the rough like Phoenix Patterson, Sam Sargeant or James Olayinka rather than some of the unsuitable signings made last season. The hunt is on.