Fleetwood Town are pleased to announce Matt Lawlor has moved into the Lead Under-21s Coach role and will head up the Professional Development Phase in the club’s thriving Academy.
He steps into the role after being the Head of Coaching for the last 18 months where he was tasked with supporting, developing, and educating coaches in consistently planning, designing and delivering effective training sessions that meet clear outcomes aligned to the club’s playing philosophy, thus having both direct and indirect impact on player development.
Lawlor, who has spent the last three-and-a-half years at the club on a full-time basis, has also spent time coaching the Under-18s where he helped guide them to the 2020/21 North West Youth Alliance league title with Simon Wiles.
On the new role, Lawlor had this to say: “I am delighted to be moving into this role and getting back on the grass day to day working with our Young professional players. Stephen Crainey has had them over the past four years, and I want to drive further the great work that has been happening.
“We have had real success as a club getting players from the academy into the first team and the Under-21s is a huge part of that so to be Lead Coach for this group is something that I felt was right for me and my career going forwards.
“The platform this club provides players and staff is not the norm in football so really pleased to be still at Fleetwood Town furthering my own and hopefully the players' careers”
Jack Higgins, Academy Manager, added: “We are really pleased to continue supporting Matt in his development; he has played a huge role in the development of our Academy due to his constant strive to improve himself and those around him.
“His progression with us from Youth Development Phase Lead Coach to Head of Coaching provided an opportunity to step back from the day-to-day to coaching to really reflect on his coaching and that of others, and we feel it has allowed him to flourish further as a coach and widen his thinking.
“We feel the opportunity is right for him now to move back onto grass more permanently and in this new role, heading up the Professional Development Phase and becoming a Lead Coach in the Under-21s group.”
Lawlor’s previous role as Academy Head of Coaching is now available to apply for – you can view the job description HERE.