Wolves have named former Crewe and Leyton Orient manager Steve Davis as their new Under-18s boss, while ex-winger Mark Kennedy has joined as an academy coach. Davis has been promoted from his previous role at Wolves as an Academy coach and will now take charge of the Under-18s moving forward.
The former Burnley defender has been working behind the scenes at the club since the start of last season and will now bring his significant coaching experience to the important youth role.
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The 50-year-old replaces Darren Ryan in the role as he moves into a new joint position working alongside Head of Academy Scott Sellars, where Wolves say he will help “lead elite player development across the Academy”, while he will also assist Davis with the Under-18s on a day-to-day basis.
Sellars is pleased with the reshuffle and believes Davis is the ideal man to work with the club’s youngsters and oversee their development.
He said in a club statement: “Steve’s got huge experience as a manager at Crewe and Leyton Orient and as a development coach working with Academy football. “He proved last season how much of a big help he was to us in the development of players, and we think he can continue moving us forward in this role.”
Kennedy, meanwhile, has been brought in and will work in the Academy where he will “support the professional phase” after previously working as a coach at Manchester City and Macclesfield Town last year, where he was a first-team coach under Sol Campbell.
Former Millwall, Liverpool and Republic of Ireland international Kennedy enjoyed a five-year spell at Molineux as a player between 2001-06, scoring 12 goals in 167 league appearances.
Wolves have also announced several other structural changes to their Academy and a number of new appointments, including a new position for the previous head of coaching for the foundation phase, Jon Hunter-Barrett, who has been named head of coaching for all age groups from Under-16s downwards.
Wes Hughes has been appointed Wolves’ Under-15s coach after joining from Birmingham City, and Adrian Ganchev has been named Under-13s coach, while Pauline Robertson is the new Head of Medical and Dan Benham is the club’s new Academy operations manager.
