Meet Leeds' new sporting director, Adam Underwood: The in-house appointment that could be a masterstroke

New York Times

11 hours ago

Nick Hammond is a highly regarded executive in football. He built his reputation as Reading's director of football, then Celtic's head of football operations before Newcastle United asked him to take control of their first transfer window under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
Two years ago, when Leeds United were scrambling to organise after relegation from the top flight and director of football Victor Orta's exit, they turned to Hammond. He was a cog in a wider machine, but his two summers at Elland Road were successful and it was no surprise to see outgoing chief executive Angus Kinnear take him to Everton in the spring.
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As a consultant, Hammond was being paid for his opinion as well as his ability to close transfer deals. Well aware he would not be with Leeds in the long term, Hammond told Robbie Evans — then the club's chief strategy officer but, more recently, promoted to managing director — who their next sporting director should be.
According to sources with knowledge of the conversation — speaking anonymously like others in this article to protect relationships — Hammond recommended Adam Underwood.
That conversation happened 12 months ago.
Across the past year, the second under Paraag Marathe's chairmanship, there have been sweeping changes at Leeds at executive level.
Technical director Gretar Steinsson moved upstairs to 49ers Enterprises, head of recruitment Jordan Miles also departed in November 2024, then Kinnear took Hammond to Merseyside. It became clear towards the end of last year that Hammond would begin to wind down his own duties, too. He has mentored Underwood, previously head of football operations, over the past 12 months, preparing him for the leap into the cut-throat world of transfers and recruitment.
In what is a critical summer ahead of the Premier League return, Evans, Underwood and head of recruitment Alex Davies know they have been thrown in at the deep end. They are confident in their processes, but acknowledge they have never previously held such senior roles in a summer transfer window.
Up to 80 per cent of the legwork in every transfer Leeds complete will fall on Underwood. In broad terms, he will be the face of the club when it comes to dealing with targets, their agents and their current sides. He has to get these deals over the line — and got the ball rolling with the summer's first arrival, Lukas Nmecha, confirmed yesterday (Sunday).
Hammond's recommendation of Underwood was important, but Marathe, Evans and the board had to be confident Underwood was up to this task, too. But there is belief his grounding as the club's head of academy, which involved player and agent negotiations, can be the platform for success in the senior arena.
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Underwood may be unproven as a sporting director, but his wider reputation as an executive has been on an upward trajectory for a decade. He arrived at Leeds as head of academy in November 2014 and made waves in that role before Marathe promoted him to head of football operations after the 49ers Enterprises' takeover in July 2023.
Senior club sources who have worked alongside Underwood say his academy leadership has always been impressive. The academy's ability to consistently produce talented footballers, even when the rest of the club has endured difficult periods, has been to Underwood's credit.
🏆 | Our 2019 Bobby Collins Award goes to Adam Underwood for all his fantastic work for the #LUFC Academy pic.twitter.com/phx5doTXEx
— Leeds United (@LUFC) April 28, 2019
Harry Gray, Sam Chambers, Archie Gray, Charlie Cresswell, Robbie Gotts, Oliver Casey, Alfie McCalmont, Jack Clarke, Jamie Shackleton and Ronaldo Vieira all made first-team debuts after graduating through the academy. Archie Gray, Clarke and Vieira generated substantial transfer fees for the club.
Underwood has done his fair share of coaching in the past, but he would not say he has had a direct hand in the development of those players on the grass. His talent has been in assembling the right team of coaches, managing a successful wider environment and, crucially, in keeping them at the club.
It is increasingly difficult for even big football clubs like Leeds to retain their best young players when those at the top of the Premier League come calling. Teenagers and their parents can be easily seduced, so Underwood is respected for his role in keeping those players at Thorp Arch.
'When we had a spell where the club were recruiting high-potential younger players — Sam Greenwood, Joe Gelhardt, Crysencio Summerville as well as developing the players within the club, ensuring they had a pathway — Adam played a part in that,' says Central Coast Mariners head coach Mark Jackson, who worked with Underwood from November 2015 until December 2022 in various academy and senior roles.
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'Charlie Cresswell, Archie Gray… managing those kinds of players and making sure that pathway was there for them. Archie in particular, at a young age under Marcelo (Bielsa), ensuring the opportunity was there for him.
'At a club like Leeds United, there are so many staff, so managing people is really important. That's one of his key strengths: managing people, understanding people with those kinds of communication lines he opens up.'
The way Underwood carries himself has struck those who have worked with him, too. He is described as quiet and refreshingly unassuming with very little ego in an industry dominated by big personalities.
He had a good relationship with Bielsa. The former head coach set notoriously high expectations for Thorp Arch and it was Underwood's job to meet those demands. Current manager Daniel Farke has grown close to Underwood, too. Their relationship will be critical this summer.
Marathe is understood to have put stock in the loyalty that Underwood has shown the club over the years. As well as being on the payroll for more than a decade, Underwood is known to have rejected various approaches from other clubs.
'He's really ambitious, but in a Leeds United type way,' says Lincoln City head coach Michael Skubala, who was appointed as United's under-21 manager in July 2022 and remained until November 2023. 'He's very ambitious in his own career, would always want to progress, but wanted to be ready first; very calculated, but very ambitious.
'He definitely had other clubs always sniffing around him to become technical director and sporting director. Some big Premier League clubs were trying to get him to move. He never left, so it shows you his commitment.'
As mild-mannered as Underwood has been described, he will need to be ruthless in his decision-making at the top of a Premier League club. With Underwood responsible for releasing hundreds of youth footballers over the past decade, his backers have told The Athletic they have no doubts he has the required edge to succeed.
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'He knows the pressures of the game,' adds Skubala. 'He's not somebody who's come from outside of football to be a sporting director. He understands football, all the nooks and crannies of it. It's really important in the sporting director role that you have that understanding. You can't come at it from completely stats or come from just an analyst's point of view.'
Underwood will be judged on his body of work. He has come this far and impressed the right people to get to where he is, but supporters will only care about the shape he leaves the squad in on September 1.
How do his former colleagues think he will do?
'He's the bedrock of the club,' says Skubala. 'He's come through the ranks. He's done the coaching, he's done the analysis, he's done the academy, done the first team. He knows the clubs through and through.
'Changes happen quickly in football, people come in and out, but he's the Mr Constant. He's a smart appointment as a sporting director. He knows the fans. He knows the club from every corner of the training ground. He's a really good guy to work for, really supportive of staff, really good with players, pushing the club, and makes good decisions.
'He's a trustworthy character, a man with the club at heart.'
Jackson feels it is Underwood's communication skills which will open doors for him and Leeds this summer. 'He's worked within the current setup with the 49ers for a period of time,' he says. 'Knowing how they work is really important. Adam's been building towards this, developing the skills a sporting director needs.
'His communication skills will set him apart. That's really important when you're in that role: communicating with the manager and with the board.
'I'm sure he's got a really good eye for a player. He's built up a really good network of people within his time working at the higher end of the club.'