WELCOME:Beale appointed Head Coach

Sunderland AFC is delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Beale as the Club’s new Head Coach.

Beale returned to coaching two months after leaving Rangers Football Club, and he secured a deal with the Stadium of Light that would last until the summer of 2026. He began his new post on Monday.

Following an outstanding period of time spent serving as the first team’s temporary head coach, Mike Dodds has advanced to the position of assistant head coach.

Alessandro Barcherini and Michael Proctor will stay in their current

positions as the Club looks to expand upon the framework set over the previous two and a half seasons.

Beale’s career began with a very successful 15-year stint in the Chelsea

and Liverpool academies, where he helped a number of outstanding players,

such as Declan Rice, Reece James, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, develop.

He took on assistant jobs at São Paulo, Rangers, and Aston Villa after making an impact on many of the players currently defining the Premier League and England’s national team, and in June 2022 he was named manager of Queens Park Rangers.

 

After serving as Rangers’ manager for ten months in Scotland, Beale led the

team to the 2023 Scottish League Cup final and left Ibrox Stadium with the best

top-flight victory percentage (77.42%) in Club history.

“We have been following Michael’s career for a while, and we are happy to have reached an agreement for him to become our new Head Coach,” stated Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman. Alongside Mike Dodds and the rest of the team, he fits in seamlessly with our playing identity and has a solid record for developing players. He is also an

exceptional progressive coach. Although Michael has had a setback, we remain

confident in our established process of finding the best individuals to lead us

ahead at this critical juncture. We believe we are bringing Michael on board at the

ideal time for both his coaching career and our club’s path.

Beale continued, “I would like to thank Kyril, Kristjaan, and the rest of the Executive Team for the faith and

responsibility they have placed in me. It’s a huge honor to be joining the

Sunderland family.” The current coaching staff is deserving of a great deal

of praise for how they handled the transition, and like the rest of the club’s

personnel, they will play a critical role going forward with the amazing

supporters who have helped SAFC become such a special and historic

organization. I’m thrilled to support the great work being done at the senior and

academy levels and to put my own ideas into practice as we continue to

strengthen the Club’s already strong identity.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Michael to our Club and wish him every success here at the Stadium of Light,” Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said in closing. During our conversations, it became evident that he adheres to a playing style that we believe is essential to our development and that he shares our beliefs about establishing a high-performance culture. In addition, I want to officially express my appreciation to Mike Dodds and our coaching staff for not only seeing us through the interim, but also for taking a risk and coming up with a novel strategy that resulted in two unforgettable victories. I firmly think that, working with Michael, our members will keep the Club moving forward as we approach 2024 with a fresh sense of enthusiasm, enthusiasm, and optimism.