The Rise of Assistant Sporting Directors

Last updated: 16 October 2025

This update builds on our original analysis

Technical Director, Sporting Director, and Directors of Football.
The focus is on how clubs continue to redefine leadership frameworks, distributing authority through Assistant Sporting Directors and expanded operations roles to support clarity, stability, and long-term planning.

The evolution of football leadership

Football’s leadership landscape is shifting rapidly. The modern game demands a more sophisticated balance between strategic foresight and operational delivery. Where once a single Sporting Director was tasked with managing every facet of recruitment, performance, and governance, today’s clubs are building layered structures designed to absorb complexity. This evolution reflects the realities of shorter coaching cycles, expanding global scouting networks, and increasing board oversight.

The trend is clear: clubs are recognising that performance, recruitment, and operations are too multifaceted to be owned by a single individual. Assistant Sporting Directors, Technical Coordinators, and Directors of Football Operations now serve as the connective tissue — ensuring that institutional knowledge, processes, and decision-making frameworks endure beyond personnel changes. These roles are no longer symbolic; they are pivotal to sustaining coherence and protecting a club’s identity.

Redefining the architecture

Within this emerging model, each role has taken on more defined boundaries. The Technical Director acts as the guardian of playing identity, methodology, and development pathways. The Sporting Director leads market strategy, squad construction, and talent acquisition, often working closely with analytics, scouting, and medical teams to shape holistic performance ecosystems. The Director of Football sits above this layer, connecting football operations to ownership or board governance, ensuring resources align with strategy.

The Assistant Sporting Director, meanwhile, has become the bridge between strategic direction and execution. Their remit typically includes managing analytics, loan structures, or academy integration — areas that require day-to-day attention but are fundamental to the club’s competitive edge. The success of this model depends less on hierarchy and more on clarity: well-mapped decision rights, shared KPIs, and visible escalation routes across departments.

Tottenham Hotspur’s leadership reorganisation

In October 2025, Tottenham Hotspur announced a comprehensive restructuring of their football department, appointing Fabio Paratici and Johan Lange as dual Sporting Directors, supported by a forthcoming Director of Football Operations. Lange leads scouting, analytics, methodology, and academy alignment, while Paratici oversees market activity, transfers, and contract negotiations. The third role will serve as a process integrator, connecting strategy with delivery. This configuration, detailed in the club’s official communication, represents a blueprint for shared authority and operational precision within elite football structures (Tottenham Hotspur).

Building continuity from within: Crystal Palace and Norwich City

Crystal Palace exemplify how incremental internal evolution can underpin long-term success. Under Sporting Director Matt Hobbs, Ben Stevens was promoted to Assistant Sporting Director after excelling as Head of Performance and Recruitment Analysis. Stevens now coordinates scouting, data, and operational logistics, freeing Hobbs to concentrate on strategic development and board engagement. The dual-layer system strengthens Palace’s ability to adapt while maintaining process stability — an approach increasingly adopted by mid-tier Premier League clubs seeking sustainability through structure (Training Ground Guru).

Norwich City have also embraced internal progression as a key tenet of their football identity. Former Loans Manager Neil Adams transitioned into the Assistant Sporting Director role, aligning the club’s recruitment, player pathway management, and academy development. His experience across the football ecosystem ensures a deeper connection between performance strategy and execution. Norwich’s approach highlights the benefit of continuity and internal promotion — ensuring that succession planning is embedded, not improvised (Norwich City).

Strategic depth at Liverpool

Liverpool have re-established a multi-tiered sporting structure following the return of Michael Edwards to a senior executive role. Beneath new Sporting Director Richard Hughes, David Woodfine has been appointed as Assistant Sporting Director after previously serving as the club’s Director of Loan Management. His position reinforces operational rigour and ensures that performance insights, recruitment logistics, and strategic planning are fully synchronised. The appointment signals a commitment to institutional memory — preserving the data-driven decision-making culture that underpinned Liverpool’s success under Jürgen Klopp (This Is Anfield).

Continental parallels

The structural evolution seen in England mirrors patterns across Europe. In Germany, Timmo Hardung serves as Deputy Sporting Director at Eintracht Frankfurt, supporting Markus Krösche on contracts, performance integration, and governance alignment. In Italy, Marco Di Vaio works closely with Giovanni Sartori at Bologna FC to strengthen recruitment and market execution, combining technical insight with executive delivery. Meanwhile, in Croatia, Antonini Čulina operates as Assistant Sporting Director at HNK Rijeka, focusing on sporting strategy and academy integration. These examples reflect a Europe-wide recognition that success now depends on the distribution of knowledge and responsibility, not its centralisation.

Key insights and organisational implications

The rise of the Assistant Sporting Director represents more than administrative support — it reflects a strategic evolution in football governance. Clubs are moving from hierarchical control to horizontal collaboration, where accountability is distributed across defined domains. This structure enhances decision speed, mitigates risk, and protects against the volatility of managerial turnover.

Well-designed deputy roles allow clubs to preserve institutional continuity, maintain performance alignment, and prepare future leaders through structured succession planning. The most progressive clubs no longer view these roles as transitional — they are embedded within the architecture of sustainable high performance.

References

• Tottenham Hotspur – New men’s football leadership structure
• Training Ground Guru – Ben Stevens promoted to Assistant Sporting Director by Crystal Palace
• Norwich City – Neil Adams on his new role
• This Is Anfield – David Woodfine returns to Liverpool
• Training Ground Guru – Jason Ayto leaves Arsenal after 11 years