New Delhi: On Friday, Hockey India announced 48-year-old, South Africa's Craig Fulton as the new head coach of the Indian men's hockey team. The announcement was made ahead of the team's home matches in the FIH Hockey Pro League, starting March 10. The coach Graham Reid resigned after the Indian team failed to even reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in January.
New Delhi: On Friday, Hockey India announced 48-year-old, South Africa’s Craig Fulton as the new head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team. The announcement was made ahead of the team’s home matches in the FIH Hockey Pro League, starting March 10. The coach Graham Reid resigned after the Indian team failed to even reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in January.
The 48-year-old South African with almost 25 years of coaching experience will join the team as soon as the formalities are completed. Fulton, a true believer in leadership, has shown exemplary results in his previous roles. His rise to fame started with a stint with the Irish Men’s Team as the Head Coach between 2014 to 2018 when the team qualified for the Rio Olympic Games 2016. this was the Irish team’s first Olympic qualification in 100 years. This historic feat also won him the FIH Coach of the Year in 2015.
Fulton, 48, has been the assistant coach of the Belgian team that won the title in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Fulton was voted the best coach of Belgium in 2023 as the Belgian club won the Belgian league title under him. As a player, he played 195 international matches for South Africa in a decade’s journey. He represented South Africa at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics, as well as the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
Welcoming Fulton’s appointment, Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said in a statement here, “I am very happy to announce that Hockey India has appointed Craig Fulton as the head coach of the Indian men’s team. I have played against him and will now work with him in the new phase of the Indian team. “He has immense experience and his work style instills confidence in teams,” he said. I welcome him to India.”
Fulton said, “It is an honor to be the head coach of the Indian hockey team. India has a golden history in hockey and I want to take the current team to new heights which has many talented players. Fulton is likely to take charge of the men’s team after it’s FIH Pro League matches against Australia and Germany in the second week of March. David John and BJ Kariappa had been earlier appointed as interim coaches for the Pro League matches. Fulton was part of the Belgian Coaching Staff when the team lifted the World title in 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
Fulton was named Belgium Coach of the Year 2023 after coaching the Belgium club which won the Belgium League. He has also been a part of the Belgium national team’s rise in world hockey, taking the team to World No. 3 in 2023 from World No.5 in 2018.
