Former Republic of Ireland international Curtis Fleming has been appointed as manager of Indian club Punjab FC.
The defender won ten caps for Ireland in the 1990s, with his club career beginning at St Pat's before going on to spend a decade at Middlesbrough. After spells at the likes of Crystal Palace and Birmignham City, he returned to Ireland for one season with Shelbourne.
Fleming has had gone on to have a successful coaching career, spending time at the likes of Crystal Palace and Bolton. He acted as assistant manager to Ian Holloway at QPR, before working under Tony Pulis at Middlesbrough. He left the club in 2019 after Pulis was sacked.
He acted as an assistant coach at Punjab last season, but has now been promoted to the top job.
I'm looking forward to getting back out to the Punjab and the season ahead with @RGPunjabFC #newchallenge @ILeagueOfficial https://t.co/33iOITI5Jo
— Curtis Fleming (@CurtisFleming) June 14, 2020
Punjab participate in the I-League, a separate Indian league that runs independent of the country's Super League. Unlike the franchise based Super League, it has relegation and promotion.
The club won the league as recently as 2018, earning a spot in the Asian Champions League as a result. They were in third place last season before the league was ended due to the coronavirus.
