Everton announce new Academy Head of Coaching

Everton have appointed Dave Adams as the Academy’s new Head of Coaching. Making the announcement yesterday was the Director Dr. Peter Vint, who has been in his current role for a couple of years now.

Adams comes to the club from a previous position as the Academy Head of Coaching for Swansea City. His time at the club was marked by a promotion to a Category 1 Academy, with a top-tier ranking in Football Development.

A UEFA Pro-Licence coach, he was in charge when the Swans' won the youth national championship triumph with the Under-23 squad. Adams was also national youth team coach for the Welsh national side for over a decade.

The 37-year-old played a key role in the development of youth-specific coaching qualifications for the Football Association of Wales, including the Advanced Youth Award, UEFA A Licence, and UEFA Pro Licence.

Academy Director Dr Vint said yesterday -

“Dave is a proven and successful architect of scientifically-informed and expertly-implemented player and coach development systems.

“He has delivered this with a unique blend of football coaching experience and expertise in the applied sciences related to coaching effectiveness, skill acquisition, and football performance.

“He is a thoughtful, innovative professional who possesses the skills, experience and personality to adapt to meet the individual needs of our players and our staff.

“His commitment to player and coach development is reflected by the excellent body of work he has already delivered in these areas and I am genuinely excited to bring him to USM Finch Farm.”

For Adams, one of the biggest reasons he wanted to make the switch was Everton’s history with developing youth and giving them an opportunity to make the senior squad.

“I’m really excited to be joining Everton Football Club. This is a big club, with big ambitions to be the best and to produce world-class players.

“My vision is to work with the coaches here and support the player development process to enable the most talented players in the Academy to progress into the first team.

“Everton has a proud history of producing good, young players. The Club is renowned for that and I’m excited by the opportunity to work in an environment where the vision is to be the best.

“I’ve got experience of delivering large-scale player development programmes and the idea is to work with the excellent staff we already have in place to map out a methodology that reflects the Everton philosophy.”

The move yesterday was another example of the Blues overall strategy to strengthen their youth focus by developing the Academy youngsters, adding the best young talent nationwide, providing them with excellent training facilities and hiring some of the best talent spotters and youth coaches in the country.