MELBOURNE has appointed Shaun O’Loughlin and Sam Radford to its women’s coaching panel.

Women’s football operations manager Debbie Lee said the club was delighted to have O’Loughlin and Radford join as assistant coaches to another recent appointment, senior women’s coach Michael Stinear.

“Shaun and Sam were standout candidates and they will be integral to assisting Michael,” she told melbournefc.com.au.

“We have already seen Shaun’s impressive coaching ability firsthand, as he was involved in our women’s exhibition series.

“And Sam brings a strong playing and coaching background from the TAC Cup and VFL. Like Shaun, Sam also has a teaching background, which will be invaluable.”

O’Loughlin’s coaching stretches back to 2006 when he was a development coach and later the senior coach of Ballarat, working with former Melbourne coach John Northey, who guided the Demons to the 1988 Grand Final.

O’Loughlin was later part of the coaching panel with North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup from 2011-14.

He was Youth Girls Victorian Country coach from 2013-15. From 2014-16, he was Melbourne women’s team assistant coach and Goldfields Academy head coach.

In 2015-16, O’Loughlin was V/Line Cup under 15 coach and this year was Ballarat senior interleague coach.

Radford coached Parkdale from 2011-16, which included back-to-back flags in 2011-12 and runner-up in 2014. He has also coached St Bedes College since 2011, where he is a teacher.

He previously coached St Pauls Altona from 2001-07 and was playing assistant coach of Chelsea from 2005-09.

Radford played for Sandringham (Prahran) Dragons in 1995 and later for Sandringham Zebras from 1997-2004.