Chelsea have made another appointment to their back-room team by recruiting Jim Hicks from the PFA as the club’s head of coach development.
Mail Sport revealed last month that Hicks had resigned from the PFA, and it is understood that the 63-year-old will join Chelsea next month.
Hicks has been head-hunted to fill a new role at Chelsea, in which he will work with coaches from under 15 to under 21 level in the boys Academy and in all age groups in the women’s set-up.
The former Fulham centre-back, who also played for Exeter and Oxford before moving into coaching and community work, is well respected throughout the game after spending 18 years as head of coaching at the PFA.
Hicks’ move to Chelsea will see him return to club football having previously spent 15 years at Millwall. In south London Hicks combined community work with managing Millwall Lionesses, whom he led to a remarkable Women’s Premier League and FA Cup double in 1997.
Former PFA official Jim Hicks has been appointed as Chelsea’s head of coach development
Hicks’ appointment follows the revelation earlier this week that Chelsea have poached Brighton’s head of recruitment Sam Jewell to take up a new position running their multi-club operations and partnerships.
Chelsea paid £65million for a near 100 per cent stake in French club Strasbourg last year and are seeking to invest in other clubs in Portugal, Belgium and South America.
Jewell has been placed on gardening leave by Brighton after just 16 months as head of recruitment, a position he obtained after his predecessor Paul Winstanley also left the club for Chelsea.
Jewell, who is the son of former Bradford and Wigan manager Paul, will become the 11th Brighton staff member to leave for Chelsea in the last two years after Winstanley, manager Graham Potter, coaches Billy Reid, Bruno Saltor, Bjorn Hamberg, Ben Roberts and Kyle Macaulay, and players Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo.
Hicks and Jewell are among the latest backroom appointments under owner Todd Boehly
In addition to Jewell, Chelsea also recently recruited Josh Marsh from Swansea as the club’s new loans manager.
Chelsea’s new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have made huge changes to the club’s personnel over the last two years and are continuing to add to their football staff.
Despite a mixed record in the transfer market Cheslea are still backing the judgement of their co-sporting directors, Winstanley and Paul Stewart, to make the key hires.
Chelsea declined to comment.
