Gérard Houllier, the former France coach and Liverpool manager, has agreed to share his wealth of expertise with Bermuda’s football community.

The assistant coach of France’s victorious 1998 World Cup team has accepted an invitation to be the guest speaker at a black-tie event to take place early next year on the island, fellow Frenchman Jacques Crevosier told The Royal Gazette.

“I was working with Gérard for ten years and I asked him to come to Bermuda and he agreed,” said Crevosier, who was a coach under Houllier at Anfield and has worked with Arsène Wenger with Arsenal.

“This is a very big opportunity because Gerard has had a very big career and it’s not so often in Bermuda you can have people with such experience and talent I believe can help the coaches and also promote football in Bermuda.”

The lecture is being put on by the Bermuda Football Coaches Association.

“It will be a big event and a meal and, of course, he can talk about his own career,” Crevosier added.

“What we will do is try to do something with the coaches so I will be meeting with him to talk about the tactical aspect.

“Gérard has the mission to do the technical report for the World Cup and so he can talk about that and the next World Cup so we will ask people what they want him to talk about, whether it’s Champions League and of course we will talk about Liverpool a lot.”

During a six-year stint at Anfield, Houllier won the FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Uefa Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

Before taking on the job at Liverpool, Houllier worked as the technical director of the France Football Federation, working with France age-group teams and based at their famous academy at Clairefontaine. The FFF academy has produced some of the country’s most gifted players, including Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal great who is France’s all-time leading goalscorer.

“Gerard was the France technical director for ten years and developed Clairefontaine, which was his idea when he was coach of the national team before he went to Liverpool,” Crevosier said.

Crevosier is presently in Bermuda conducting a 40-hour C Licence coaching course being jointly run by the BFCA and Bermuda Football Association at the National Sports Centre.

“I started this in 2012 and now I have coaches from every club,” Crevosier said. “I have coaches from Boulevard, Dandy Town, PHC ... all of the coaches have a diploma now.”

Scott Morton, the BFCA president and PHC Zebras coach, said he is encouraged with this year’s turnout of 19 coaches.

“It’s encouraging the coaches see the value in getting coaching education, especially with the Bermuda Football Association following through with the mandatory coaches licensing programme that would require all coaches to be certified by the 2018-19 season,” he said.

Maurice Lowe, BFA development director, added: “I am very proud of what we have been able to assist in terms of coaching licence. We now have nearly 150 C licence coaches in Bermuda and we are very happy and proud to play a role in bringing that to fruition.”