Derrick Pereira

Derrick Pereira is a former football player and currently a manager at the Indian Association for football. He was born on March 17, in 1962, in Goa. He used to play at the position of a defender in his team. He is responsible for managing I-League 2nd Division club called FC Goa Reserves. He also serves as the assistant manager of FC Goa in the India Super League.

Back in the day, as a child, Derrick began playing for the local football clubs in Goa. His first step towards professional football was when he joined Salgaocar SC in 1980 and was there for three years till 1983. Then Derrick joined Tata Football Academy but soon returned to Salgaocar SC in 1985.

He remained loyal to the club till the end of his carer which was in the year 1999. He led Goa team to victory in the Junior National Championship in 1980. He also helped Salgaocar win the Rovers Cup in 1990. He was a part of the squad from 1984 to 1991.

He was also a member of the national team for AFC Asian Cup in 1984. Derrick entered the next phase of life in the field of football when he began coaching the under 19 teams of Salgaocar. He continued with the same for the next two seasons of the I-League. After this, Derrick coached the first ever team at Vasco SC for another five editions of the League.

Another highlight of his coaching career was when he trained at Mahindra United for four years from 2005 to 2009. In the year 2009, in June he signed a contract with the team Pune FC where he coached for two seasons. Pune FC appeared in the top five teams in both the editions of the League. At the beginning of the 2013-2014 League campaign, Salgaocar chose Pereira as a substitute for David Booth.

The team began on a high note and topped the table for six game weeks, but the following eight matches which included four losses led them to lose the League to Bengaluru FC. Salgaocar finished the league at the third place. Still, their position was an improvement from previous seasons.

In February of 2017, Derrick signed a contract with the Churchill Brothers, in between the progress of the League Season as the team was at the last position in the team tally. In the month of April, in the same year, he joined FC Goa as the head for development of youth as well as the assistant manager of the team.