Long before he took charge of the Indian men's team, Craig Fulton had made a big impact in the world of hockey -- as the head coach of the Ireland men's team. Almost 10 years ago, Fulton took over the Irish team and produced terrific results, helping them to qualify for the Olympics (2016, Rio) after more than a hundred years and followed it up with World Cup qualification two years later (2018, India) His achievements with the team saw him winning the 2015 FIH Coach of the Year award.
After four years with Ireland, Fulton left to become the assistant coach of the highly successful Belgium team and without him, the Irish missed out on the subsequent Olympics and World Cup qualification.
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For Irish players like captain Sean Murray and Daragh Walsh, who are now back in India for the FIH Pro League, representing their country at the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar was the most cherished moment of their hockey careers.
"India is my favourite place to play hockey, for sure. Nowhere else in the world is like it. The stadiums are amazing, the people are amazing. Looking forward to playing in the monster stadium (in Rourkela) that everyone is talking about," Murray told ESPN.
Murray has now played over 100 international matches for Ireland, but it was Fulton who first called him up to the senior national team. The Irish players address their ex-coach by his nickname, Ned, which was given to Fulton by a teammate during his playing days. In fact, thanks to Fulton's family friend, NED became an acronym for Never-Ending Dream.
According to Fulton, the never-ending dream part came from an old housemate back when he was in England during his playing days. The coach, who runs a company called Nedstar adopted the three words as his business slogan.
"Ned brought me for my first cap. He's a great coach, it's great to see him do so well for Hockey India also. He brought the guys from 15th in the world up to top 10 and qualified for the Olympics Games in Rio. He's a great coach and a great person as well," Murray said.
The Irish captain spoke highly of Fulton's coaching and character, which they still try to live up to on the pitch. "I think besides his tactical knowledge, he's fantastic with the details, His character, he's been there, he played at the top level, and he has done it all himself. He's got that dog in him, to make sure we grind out the games, which he really instilled in the Irish team. He [always used to say] 'attack wins games but defence wins tournaments.' The goals will come to win the matches as long as you shut the back door," Murray said.
India are seeing the effects of this Fulton philosophy: best showcased by the Indian team en-route Hangzhou Asian Games gold.
Meanwhile, Ireland are back on track after the tough years that immediately followed Fulton's departure. They have qualified for the Paris Olympics and are now playing the top teams in the FIH Pro League after South Africa dropped out.
Their start to the Pro League campaign has been a tough one, with three defeats in three matches in Bhubaneswar, having conceded 14 goals (5-0 against Australia, 5-1 against the Dutch and 4-2 against Spain). The team will hope to make big improvements in the upcoming matches, starting with one against India in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Fulton said that while he had met his former Irish wards at the hotel and exchanged pleasantries (and especially after India's 6-4 loss against Australia on Thursday), he will now push hard to regain India's winning momentum against his former team.