Michael McArdle is relaxed as he sits down for a BBC Sport interview at Windsor Park, fresh from naming his squad for the World Cup play-off against Portugal. It is, by his own measure, the biggest game of his managerial career to date.
He has held the Northern Ireland job only since March, when he was confirmed as Tanya Oxtoby’s permanent successor, yet he arrives with more than 25 years of experience in football behind him. In that time he has worked across coaching, academy and development roles, and before joining Northern Ireland he was head of elite women’s football at the Scottish FA, where he also had a brief interim spell in charge of the senior team.
The task ahead is a demanding one. To reach a first-ever World Cup, Northern Ireland must beat Portugal over two legs, and the winners are likely to face Iceland, with Croatia the other possible opponent. Both Portugal and Iceland have beaten Northern Ireland fairly convincingly inside the past two years, and even a successful play-off run would probably lead to an additional inter-continental play-off in February because of the team’s ranking. The format change has made matching the achievement of Euro 2022 qualification — when Kenny Shiels led a largely amateur squad to a major tournament — considerably harder.
McArdle does not shy away from that reality, but he is equally committed to the dreaming. “I think the dream piece is crucial, so we’ve dreamt about how we get there and what it’ll feel like when we do it,” he said. “The other piece of it is the reality. We know it’s a highly challenging task first of all to get through Portugal.” He speaks about preparing for moments within matches and planning in-game scenarios with his staff, and admits the prospect of the tie excites him. “You look forward to every game but it’s one of those ties that gives you the opportunity to test yourself at the highest level,” he added.
Underlying all of it is a single word that recurs throughout the conversation: family. McArdle was born and raised in Moodiesburn, east of Glasgow, and still lives there. He met his wife, Tammy, in the village when they were both 12 and sharing a paper round, and they have now been married for 28 years. The couple have three children — Connor, Mya and Cole — and he is about to become a grandfather for the first time.
That personal meaning extends directly into how he wants Northern Ireland to operate. “Family’s crucial to me. We’re all a family when we represent the country,” he said. “That’s a family of players and a family of staff, but also as an ecosystem and domestic game. We’re all the one family when we’re together and that’s a message that will always be strong while I’m at the helm.”
It is a message he has spent his early months acting on. His first two international windows came in quick succession, producing two victories over Malta before defeats by Turkey and Switzerland, and he has used the summer to spend time around the Women’s Premiership in Northern Ireland. “I was still getting to know them as people, not as footballers, so that was really important for me to build those relationships,” he said, adding that he has also been getting to know head coaches and clubs at boardroom level to understand how he can serve them and support pathways in the domestic game.
His squad for the play-offs is a young one, and has been affected by injuries to senior players. Captain Simone Magill is a significant loss on the pitch, but she will be with the group during the camp as she builds towards a return following the birth of her daughter, Skye, who will be with her for the duration. McArdle described having Simone, Mark and Skye on camp as “special”, saying it allows the player and her family to experience what the future looks like while she represents Northern Ireland — something planned together over the summer months. “It’s one thing knowing the players and the girls that represent us, but also the families that support them as well,” he said. “I’m very passionate about that and I don’t underestimate the power of it.”
McArdle’s own influences trace back to the same roots. He grew up idolising Kenny Dalglish, who was once a loan player from Celtic at Cumbernauld United juniors near where he was raised. Closer to home, he cites the Glasgow youth coach Michael O’Halloran and Sir Alex Ferguson, who he describes as a “God” coming from the east end of the city. Further afield, Arrigo Sacchi — whose AC Milan side he watched on VHS in the 1990s — along with Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez have all fed into his thinking.
“What drew me towards Sacchi, Mourinho and Benitez was not just the tactical side of the game, but how they managed it and their leadership,” he said. “They didn’t play professionally and it kind of aligned with myself, although I didn’t realise at the time.”
He credits Moodiesburn with shaping the values he brings to the role. “Growing up in the village and growing up as a family I was always going to care for people and be in a service role,” he said. “It was always going to be my calling. I’m just blessed that football has given me the opportunity to develop a knowledge and skill set to work at the highest level of an industry.”
Football is not the only thing in his life, and family offers him a way to step away from its demands. He goes to the theatre with his daughter Mya, and to the cinema or concerts with Tammy. A sports fan, he also watches his sons play without the pressure of management. “Representing my family is everything to me,” he said. “We’ve stayed in the same village all our lives. You represent the village as well and that becomes a big piece of what we do. So those aspects of family fuel you.”