Scotland internationalist helped many players at the English Premier League club
Former Hearts captain Steven Pressley is seeking a new challenge in his career after leaving his role at English Premier League club Brentford. Pressley has been head of individual player development there for the last four years there but has decided to head for pastures new.
The 51-year-old is known to hanker after a return to front-line football management having previously been in charge of Falkirk, Coventry City, Fleetwood Town, Paphos and Carlisle United. He will now explore various options in an effort to take his career in a new direction.
“After careful consideration, I’ve decided it’s time for a new challenge in my career,” Pressley told the official Brentford website. “I leave the club having formed some great friendships, great memories, and also being appreciative of the opportunity to work with some highly-skilled people, which has allowed me to learn and grow as a person.”
Brentford’s director of football, Phil Giles, paid tribute to the former Scotland internationalist. “I’d like to thank Steven for his commitment to Brentford over the last four seasons,” he said. “As well as developing some of our best young players and having a meaningful impact on first-team performances in the Premier League, he’s been a top professional and a pleasure to get to know as a person. On behalf of everyone at Brentford, I wish him well in his future career.”
A statement issued by the Hounslow club detailed some of the players who made progress helped by Pressley’s guidance. It read: “Brentford head of individual player development Steven Pressley has left the club. Pressley joined the Bees in May 2021 and has played a role in the development of numerous players over the last four years.
“The likes of Yehor Yarmoliuk, Ryan Trevitt, Ji-soo Kim and Paris Maghoma have been promoted from the B team to the first team during his time at the club, with multiple other young players making the step up and earning appearances for Thomas Frank’s side.”
As a player, Pressley joined Hearts on a free transfer from Dundee United in 1998. He was appointed captain by then-manager Craig Levein in 2001 and remained a key player at Tynecastle Park until 2006, when he joined Celtic. He had emerged as a teenager at Rangers and also played for Coventry, the Danish side Randers as well as Falkirk.
The central defender also won 32 Scotland international caps and captained his country on two of those occasions. In September 2006, he played against Lithuania to surpass Bobby Walker’s 91-year recrd as Hearts’ most-capped Scotland player. That record remain with Pressley until Craig Gordon, his former Tynecastle colleague, surpassed it when he won his 33rd Scotland cap as a Hearts player in 2021.
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