Huddersfield Town confirm manager appointment with ‘winning football’ statement

Martin Drury has been appointed as the club’s new head coach

Huddersfield Town have announced that Martin Drury has been appointed as the club’s new head coach.

The interim boss has landed the permanent role after overseeing the final seven games of the League One campaign alongside Jon Stead, who also remains as assistant coach. The pair presided over two wins, four draws and one defeat during their interim stint in charge.

The duo started with four points from their first two games against Reading and Leyton Orient, but three consecutive late equalisers conceded against Wycombe Wanderers, Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers put an end to the club’s play-off hopes.

Town then brought their season to a close with a convincing defeat to Mansfield Town and a thumping win at AFC Wimbledon.

Drury now replaces Liam Manning at the helm, who was granted compassionate leave at the end of March, with the club confirming earlier this month that the head coach would not be returning to his role.

The new boss and Stead first joined Town’s coaching staff in January to work under Manning following his appointment, prior to stepping up for the final seven games.

“We’re extremely happy to announce Martin Drury as our new head coach,” sporting director Chris Markham told his club’s website.

“As I have said since my return to the club as sporting director in November, we are focused on delivering a style of winning football that Town fans can get behind and enjoy. With our owner Kevin Nagle and chief operating officer David Threlfall-Sykes, we approached this appointment with a clear focus on identifying a head coach whose playing style, energy and leadership aligned with the football identity we want to represent Huddersfield Town.

“We’ve had the benefit of seeing Martin’s work for the last six months. It was immediately clear why he has a reputation across football as an elite coach, but his leadership over the final seven games in difficult circumstances was impressive too.

“Even with this in mind, we quickly decided that we had to run a full process to identify our next head coach. Martin entered that process alongside other potentials with very different experiences and profiles and, having interviewed several – including Martin – over the past three weeks, he was the unanimous choice.

“We believe that Martin can be a successful head coach at Huddersfield Town based on the way he works and his alignment with us on what needs to be delivered for the club’s fans. We will ensure that Martin gets the support he needs to be successful, and that starts with Jon’s appointment as assistant.

“Although their working relationship only started in January, there is a natural synergy between Martin and Jon in terms of their coaching and their personalities. Martin led the day-to-day when they took charge of the side in March, but he would be the first to tell you that Jon’s insight, counsel and expertise were invaluable to him.

“There will be more additions to Martin’s coaching team over the coming weeks, as the staff around him will be integral to his success.”