Former Portsmouth, Stoke and Sheffield United striker handed first manager's job - 8,000-plus miles from home

Former Pompey striker Dave Kitson has accepted his first managerial position.

The 44-year-old, who spent two seasons at Fratton Park, has been appointed national team manager and international ambassador of Nauru. For those of you asking ‘who?’, Nauru is a tiny island country in Micronesia, which is situated off the north-east coast of Australia. And, yes, that is a result of a search via Google - as is the fact that Nauru is recognised as the third smallest state in the world, with a population of approximately 12,500 people.

Kitson will combine his duties with the Nauru Soccer Federation while playing for Reading Sunday League side Caversham United. According to Nauru Director of International Development, Gareth Johnson, the ex-striker’s appointment has been on the cards for some time. He said: ‘I first came into contact with Dave during 2020 through our mutual interest in travel when we began discussing a few projects, one of them being Nauru. As things have quickly progressed I am now happy to be in a position to offer him the management role’.

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Speaking to footballoceania.com, Johnson added: ‘He genuinely cares about the project. One of the reasons for such a high profile appointment is to help the game, not just in Nauru, but the whole region.’

Kitson featured 72 times for Pompey following his move from Stoke in September 2010, scoring 12 goals. But the front man came in for some harsh criticism from the stands during his time at Fratton Park.

His performances were deemed by many as not up to scratch. Meanwhile, with the Blues on the brink of liquidation, an agreement to cancel the remaining year of his contract was only reached in August of 2012 – six months after the club went into administration for the second time in three seasons.

At the time, that was interpreted as proof that Kitson did not care about the club. Since then, the former Stoke and Sheffield United forward has revealed that he was suffering from clinical depression during his spell with the Blues.

Last month, the much-maligned former Fratton Park revealed he and his 12-year-old son hid behind a parked car ‘for what felt like hours’ in order to avoid a potential run-in with Pompey supporters attending the League One game against the Royals in October. Kitson took the drastic action as he feared being confronted by members of the Fratton faithful still angry by his two-season spell on the south coast.

Writing in the Reading Chronicle, he said: ‘Believe me, the anger of the fans from that time is still very real in Portsmouth. After all, until the club returns to the Premier League, there will always be a perception among the faithful that they are still paying for the mistakes of the past. 

‘The thought of fronting it out by walking through hundreds of them is about as appealing as milking a cow without using my hands. As I often tell my kids, there is a subtle difference between being brave and being a complete idiot!

'So there we crouched, myself and my 12-year-old son for what felt like hours, the progress of the Pompey fans delayed by a brief snack raid on an unsuspecting Tesco Express opposite the station.’

Kitson is expected to hold a training camp in Nauru this summer, with a game against American Samoa also in the offing.