Sunderland have been investing heavily behind the scenes following promotion to the Premier League
Stuart Harvey’s departure from Sunderland last week was another significant change behind the scenes at the club, one which is changing fast as its rapid development continues.
Many departments have seen huge investment and change at the club both before and after promotion to the Premier League and though some key decision makers remain, influence is undoubtedly changing. Here, we explain how the key performance domains have changed and who the key figures of influence are…
RECRUITMENT
Stuart Harvey’s departure as head of recruitment last week underlined the growing influence of Florent Ghisolfi in that department. Ghisolfi was hired as director of football earlier this summer following his departure from AS Roma and while Harvey worked tirelessly through the summer to ensure stability and continuity, a shake up at some stage was always likely.
Sunderland believe Ghisolfi has the contacts and experience at the top level of European football to drive the club into the new era, and will be given the licence to reshape the department in the weeks and months ahead as a result. He is very hands-on behind the scenes, thus taking on much of the work moving forward that was once Harvey’s as he helped build the team that delivered two promotions. Kristjaan Speakman remains a key voice and figure in recruitment, with a significant input both on strategy and incoming players. Speakman has also been widely credited for the club’s major overhaul and proactive strategy when it comes to contract management, which has helped the club significantly improve its final position.
Many behind the scenes and in the game also note that through his success, his contacts and the respect he has within the club hierarchy, Régis Le Bris has a stronger voice in recruitment than his predecessors. Le Bris generally enters the process at its final stages, but has a very significant influence and has leant on his contacts to help get deals done.
Generally, though, the feeling is that this is increasingly Ghisolfi’s domain.
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FIRST TEAM
Sunderland’s first-team coaching operation has been through a significant period of change, which started in earnest when Mike Dodds left to take up his first head coaching role at Wycombe Wanderers. Sunderland initially brought in Pedro Ribeiro as a replacement, and the coach was a significant influence both in training and on matchdays through the closing months of the season. Ribeiro had impressed through the interview process particularly for his strength in coaching out of possession, but a raft of new arrivals in the summer led to his departure as roles and responsibilities evolved.
Le Bris leads training, selection and the first-team domain, but assistant head coach Luciano Vulcano has from his arrival been a very prominent figure who works closely with the Frenchman. Recruiting Vulcano, formerly of both Milan clubs and Fiorentina, was a significant coup for the club as he had offers to take up his first managerial role. Vulcano is a vocal presence both on the training pitch and behind the scenes, who has a big future in the game.
While Alessandro Barcerhini and Michael Proctor remain long-serving members of the coaching staff, Sunderland have bolstered Le Bris’s operation with goalkeeping coach Neil Cutler, set piece specialist James Brayne and Isidre Ramón Madir. Madir works closely with the existing analysis department to lead on opposition prep, and is an important sounding board for the coaching staff on matchdays watching from an elevated position in the stands.
The first-team staff work closely with our performance domains across the club, with new head of first team performance Shad Forsythe a significant summer appointment. Formerly of Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, Forsythe is credited by many with helping the team prepare for the physical rigours of the Premier League.
Though Le Bris has a major role in the appointment of backroom staff, as has been the case with all previous head coaches, it’s also a process very heavily influenced by Kristjaan Speakman. Though all appointments have to fit within the club structure and philosophy, it’s to Le Bris’s credit that his genuine preference is to bring in staff from different backgrounds and with different experiences who can challenge his own opinions and processes.
Speakman, it’s worth noting, has been hugely influential and heavily involved in the investment to all key performance domains and the Academy of Light over the course of the summer.
BOARDROOM
Changes in the boardroom have been rare in recent times, with Kyril Louis-Dreyfus driving the club’s direction even if Juan Sartori is an influential shareholder. The vast majority of the board is made of close allies of Louis-Dreyfus, many with longstanding business connections to the family. The exceptions to that had previously been Leo Pearlman and David Jones as non-executive directors, who were seen as important sounding boards as lifelong fans of the club. Jones left his role over the summer, deciding it was the right time to step down. Jones arrived in the League One era, prior to the arrival of Louis-Dreyfus, to offer guidance on best practice in football and to bring an extensive contacts book. With key departments now heavily reinforced and the club back in the Premier League, Jones felt it was an appropriate moment to step back. Pearlman, of Fulwell 73, remains and has the added benefit of bringing strong business links both to the immediate city and beyond.
Louis-Dreyfus is a very hands-on owner and chairman in almost all respects, driving the club’s long-term strategy and often taking a keen interest in day-to-day affairs. He was, for example, key to Granit Xhaka’s arrival by making a personal intervention to sell the project to the experienced midfielder.
ACADEMY
Robin Nicholls, hired from Southampton in 2022, is the club’s Academy Manager with primary responsibility across the Category One operation. As head of coaching at the club, Stuart English is another very influential figure behind the scenes at the Academy of Light. English worked with Kristjaan Speakman at Birmingham City, and Speakman retains a major influence on the club’s academy set up as part of his remit as sporting director. It’s one of the many areas Speakman ultimately oversees and though Florent Ghisolfi’s arrival was significant, it’s why he remains a very prominent figure behind the scenes.
BUSINESS/COMMERCIAL
Having initially arrived as the club’s Chief Brand and Commercial Officer, David Bruce was promoted to Chief Business Officer in the aftermath of Steve Davison’s departure in the summer of 2024. Though the club’s executive team has continued to grow since, including the appointment of former Chelsea man Paul Kingsmore as Chief Operations Officer, it is Bruce who fundamentally drives the off-pitch operation. Bruce drove the long-term partnerships with Hummel and Fanatics, as well as the new deal with Delaware North which has seen the American company assume concourse and hospitality responsibilities on matchdays.
Bruce is tasked with driving the club’s off-pitch revenues in the years ahead, and it will be fascinating to see the impact of those deals in the future accounts. Sunderland will also need a new primary shirt sponsor for next season should they stay in the Premier League, with betting sponsors banned. While it’s a large team that works on all of this, including Chief Commercial Officer Ashley Peden, Bruce assumes primary responsibility.
SUNDERLAND WOMEN
Sunderland Women are now fully professionalised and integrated behind the scenes at the Academy of Light, which means they have access to all the key provisions such as nutrition, analysis and recovery. While a head coach on paper, Mel Reay’s role remains more like a traditional manager, however. Reay drives recruitment and her extensive contacts in the game have been key to building squads that have punched above their weight in competing well against more expensively-assembled squads in WSL 2. Assisted by assistant Steph Libbey, remains the driving force behind Sunderland’s top-tier ambitions.
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