Southampton undertake major restructuring and restaffing of Academy

Southampton Football Club has recently embarked on a major restructuring and restaffing of their Category One Academy, with the aim of building a world-leading development program for players and staff. The club, which was recently relegated from the Premier League, has appointed Andy Goldie as the new Academy Director, replacing the long-serving Matt Hale who has left the role.

Under the previous management of Matt Crocker and Hale, several changes were implemented, including the introduction of a B Team and a comprehensive coaching system throughout the Academy at various levels. However, these changes have now been scrapped, with the B Team reverting back to an Under-21 side and the coaching system being simplified to a traditional Head of Coaching model.

The new U21s Head Coach is Adam Asghar, who joined Southampton from Sunderland last September. Chris Allen has also been appointed as U21s Assistant, coming from Coventry City where he was a Professional Development Phase Coach. Calum McFarlane, who joined from Manchester City at the beginning of the season, is the new U18s Head Coach, with Andrew Surman, formerly the U18s Assistant at Bournemouth, joining him as his assistant. Additionally, David Coles, a highly experienced goalkeeping coach who previously worked for Southampton and other clubs including Portsmouth, West Ham, and England, has returned as the U18s Goalkeeper Coach.

Southampton has made significant changes to the structure and staffing of the Academy. The Technical Development department, led by Iain Brunnschweiler, which encompassed coaching, coach development, individual development coaches, and specialist coaches, has been dissolved. The club has returned to the traditional Head of Coaching model, with Ricky King, who arrived from Swansea City last summer, taking up that role.

One of the notable new additions to the Academy is the creation of a Head of Player Strategy role, which will mainly focus on the strategic progression and transition of Professional Development Phase players. This role has been given to former Southampton centre-back Olly Lancashire, who rejoined the club in 2021 as a B Team coach and over-aged player. Lancashire will be responsible for heading up the new Player Pathway department, which will be supported by Loans Manager Phil Wright and Transition Coach Jeremy Newton.

The Player Pathway department will be in charge of securing loans and first-team exposure for players, as well as ensuring the successful delivery of interdisciplinary Individual Development Plan objectives. The department is also set to appoint an Individual Analyst and Individual Data Scientist to support player development. Additionally, Player Development Leads will be working closely with age group coaches to oversee the process of individual player development.

Natasha Patel, who has been with the club since December 2022 after her tenure as Head of Performance Analysis at New York Red Bulls, will continue to oversee Performance, including Sport Science, Medical, Psychology, and Analysis, as well as Operations and Education. Southampton has also seen recent arrivals in their Academy, with Sport Republic acquiring an 80% stake in the club in January 2022, and Jason Wilcox taking over as Director of Football last summer.