06 August 2021

Swansea appoint academy manager Mark Allen as the club’s new sporting director

06 August 2021

Swansea have appointed Mark Allen as the club’s new sporting director.

The 58-year-old has been working as academy manager since arriving at the Liberty Stadium earlier this year, following spells with Manchester City and Rangers.

His promotion will see him work closely with new head coach Russell Martin and the senior management team, including chief executive Julian Winter, as well as continuing his work with the academy.

“I have been extremely impressed with Mark’s knowledge and insight ever since he arrived at the club earlier this year,” Winter told the club website.

“The role of sporting director has been a natural evolution in football over many years and during my 10 months at the club it has been clear that this was an area that needed due care and attention.

“Ownership and the board wanted to establish a joined-up ethos across the club and it made perfect sense for Mark to make the step up. I firmly believe that both he and Andy (Scott, head of recruitment) will have an excellent working relationship with Russell and his football staff, as well as with all the other football departments.

“Our ownership group have been fully supportive of this decision and we believe Mark is the ideal person to help drive this football club forward and unify all areas of football operations from the academy right through to the first team.”

Allen has a wealth of knowledge and experience in British football, spending eight years as Manchester City’s academy director where he helped nurture the likes of Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.

He was also director of football at Rangers from 2017 until 2020, where he was responsible for recruiting Steven Gerrard as the club’s manager.

“I’m delighted to be taking on this role. It’s a fantastic opportunity,” said Allen.

“I feel that myself and Russell have a very good understanding of what we both want and that is a great combination. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the time I’ve already spent at the club and I have no doubt that we can be successful going forward.”

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