RUSAGARA MUVUNANKIKO Valens
Rwanda’s football authorities have appointed English coach Nicholas De-Long as the country’s new Youth Football Development Officer, a role aimed at strengthening the pathways through which young Rwandan players are identified, coached and developed.
The appointment marks a return to Rwandan football for De-Long, who has previously worked within the country’s national-team setup. De-Long brings a coaching career that spans academy football, military instruction and international youth development.
He has spent decades working as a physical education instructor and coach in the UK Royal Air Force, alongside stints on national team staffs in Rwanda and India and coaching roles in the academies at Southampton and Bristol Rovers.
His RAF service included a deployment to Afghanistan with the British Armed Forces, while his time with the Indian national team saw him coach in front of crowds of 40,000 at the AFC Asian Cup.
In England, De-Long has more recently focused on grassroots and regional talent development. He currently serves as Head of Academy for the North Somerset Sports Foundation, a full-time football education programme for 16-to-19-year-olds, alongside his role as Head of Football for the North Somerset Regional Talent Centre, which works with roughly 1,100 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 16.
His professional network also reflects continued engagement with Rwandan football even before this appointment: on social media, De-Long has publicly expressed enthusiasm about returning to Rwanda and “the Amavubi,” Rwanda’s national team nickname, thanking colleagues and players from a club he worked with in Cyprus.
The new role comes as Rwanda’s football federation, FERWAFA, has been actively investing in structured youth development. In December 2025, FERWAFA officially unveiled its Talent Development Scheme, a programme designed to identify and nurture young football talent nationwide, with the stated goal of preparing Rwanda’s U17 team for the 2028 FIFA U17 World Cup.
More recently, Rwanda hosted a FIFA workshop on the scheme, where FERWAFA President Fabrice N. Shema stressed that the country’s football development projects are aligned with its Vision 2050 and National Strategy for Transformation.
De-Long’s appointment fits into that broader push. His combination of elite academy experience in England, military-honed leadership training and firsthand familiarity with Rwandan football from his earlier national-team work positions him to contribute to FERWAFA’s efforts to raise coaching standards and build a clearer development pipeline for the country’s emerging players.
