FC Goa have appointed Derrick Pereira as the new first team head coach on Tuesday after former boss Juan Ferrando departed to join fellow Hero Indian Super League (ISL) side ATK Mohun Bagan. 

Pereira thus becomes the second permanent Indian head coach in the Hero ISL after Khalid Jamil at NorthEast United. 

Pereira has been with the club since 2017, serving as the assistant coach in Hero ISL 2017-18 season before taking up the role of the Technical Director at the beginning of the Hero ISL 2018-19 season.

Under him, three junior FC Goa teams have finished as champions. 

The 59-year-old thus has extensive experience working with the majority of players from the present FC Goa squad.  A number of them have played under him in his stints before his time with FC Goa while many more come through the youth ranks under his guidance

Speaking of the task ahead, new FC Goa head coach Derrick Pereira told the official FC Goa website, “It is a great honour to become head coach of a club I have been. It is a very proud day for both me and my family.

“This is a wonderful opportunity, but there is also a lot of work ahead of us and I am eager to get onto the training ground to start working with the players.

“I would like to thank the club management for this opportunity and thank the club’s supporters for the incredible welcome they have already given me. I am very excited to begin our journey together," he added.

Speaking on the appointment, FC Goa’s Director of Football, Ravi Puskur told the club's website, “We’re pleased to announce that Derrick has taken over as the Head Coach of the team. He’s been ingrained into the fabric of the club and is well versed with our players and staff with a vast majority of them having worked with him.

“He will settle into the day to day workings of the team seamlessly and we’re certain he’ll continue to push our brand of football. A Goan taking over FC Goa is the perfect representation of what we believe in and we’re confident he will make his mark on this team and will continue to push the team towards its objectives," he added. 

Pereira's first assignment will be against Odisha FC on Friday before he prepares his team to take on Ferrando's ATK Mohun Bagan on December 29.