Nick Cox, James Smith, Chris Howarth and Nick Hammond will take up key positions in Everton's football leadership team
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Manchester United academy chief Nick Cox is joining Everton's new football leadership team
Manchester United academy chief Nick Cox is joining Everton's new football leadership team
(Image: Manchester United Football Club. )
Everton have confirmed four appointments behind-the-scenes as the club overhauls its leadership structure. The Blues are undergoing a summer of change on and off the pitch, with the rebuild led by new owners The Friedkin Group (TFG) running through Finch Farm.
The new arrivals come after TFG opted to move away from the director of football model that had been employed under Kevin Thelwell, who left for Rangers at the end of the season.
Instead, a new ‘flatter’ structure is being installed with manager David Moyes and recently-appointed chief executive Angus Kinnear each prominent.
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Specialists in technical development, football operations, talent ID, data analytics and player trading have been hired to implement the vision.
That has seen Nick Cox appointed as technical director, James Smith as director of scouting and recruitment, Chris Howarth to direct the club's football strategy and analytics operations, and Nick Hammond to lead the club's player trading activity.
The new appointments will work alongside Moyes and Everton Women manager Brian Sorensen while also supporting the wider football operation, including the academy.
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Smith will join the club in September, when he completes a move from the same position within the City Group that owns Manchester City. He had been part of the Everton recruitment team for a decade before moving on, spending time at Manchester United, where Cox is currently academy director.
In his new role as the Blues’ technical director, Cox will aim to drive standards at Finch Farm to an “elite level” in areas ranging from the medical side to player care.
Howarth set up analytics company Insight Sport and has worked with clubs across Europe through his expertise on data. As part of his arrival, TFG acquired the company and Everton will benefit from its insight.
Hammond, meanwhile, worked closely with Kinnear at Leeds United and the ECHO reported last week that he was already supporting the club’s efforts this summer. Recent roles have been as a transfer consultant with Leeds and Newcastle United but he has also held the posts of director of football at Reading, technical director at West Bromwich Albion and head of football operations at Celtic.
Upon confirmation of the appointments, Kinnear said: “I’m delighted with the appointments of Nick, James and Nick. Their CVs speak for themselves - they are exceptional operators, hugely respected in the game and an example of the ambition we hold as a club in ensuring the pathways and structures in place across our football operations are of the very highest standard.
“The fact we had such exceptional candidates for these positions is also a reflection of the direction of the club. I'm equally delighted by our appointment of Chris and ownership's strategic acquisition of Insight Sport, which is a further sign of our ownership’s ambition for Everton and I believe step-changes our analytics capability and will deliver us a long-term competitive advantage.
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“The new football leadership structure will ensure our two managers have the very best support, and the very best operators driving the key football operations, to ensure our collective ambitions are realised.”