Dan Ashworth returns to FA following Manchester United sacking

Telegraph

13-05-2025

Dan Ashworth will be unveiled as the Football Association's new director of football operations this week, just seven months after he was controversially removed as sporting director of Manchester United.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport back in March, Ashworth had been discussing a new position with the FA for several weeks and has decided to return to the organisation he left back in 2018.
Sources have revealed that Ashworth is set to start his new job 'imminently.' The game's governing body are said to be delighted to have secured his return and are excited about what he will bring as they wrestle with the challenges of making sure England thrive at all levels of international football.
Other sources at Old Trafford have indicated they have agreed to release Ashworth to work again for the FA under the terms of his severance package drawn up when he left the club last year.
The 54-year-old will have huge power to lead the FA's decision making and will effectively be in full control of the football side of the operation alongside chief executive Mark Bullingham.
One of the first challenges will be for Ashworth to oversee the 'St George's Park 2.0 project' which will see a 'radical refurbishment' of the facility.
But he will also oversee both the men's and women's senior and junior teams and will look closely at coach development too.
The FA are keen to ensure there are more pathways for domestic coaches, especially in light of the lack of suitable English candidates when they appointed Thomas Tuchel as manager of the national team last year.
The FA's Technical Director, John McDermott, will remain in his current role, but will report into Ashworth, as will women's technical director Kay Cossington, in a new management structure.
Although badly burned at Old Trafford, where it is thought he clashed with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Ashworth's reputation within the game has remained high.
During his previous stint at the FA, the Under-17s and Under-20s were world champions in 2017 and the Under-19s were European champions the same year.
Then there was the progress of Sir Gareth Southgate's England team, who went to the World Cup semi-finals in Ashworth's last year at the FA, subsequently reaching two Euros finals with the generation of players who had come through the revamped England age group system.
As well as success as sporting director of Brighton and Hove Albion after leaving the FA, Ashworth also helped build the Newcastle United team that is closing in on Champions League qualification for the second time in three years. The team he constructed alongside manager Eddie Howe also ended their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy when they won the Carabao Cup back in March.
However, Ashworth left St James' Park under a cloud,secretly negotiating with Manchester United about taking the job as sporting director while still employed by the North East club.
He was placed on gardening leave at the end of 2023 after just 18 months in the job. He eventually joined United in July 2024 after they agreed a compensation package with the Magpies.
Given everything that happened at Old Trafford, Ashworth has told people within the game that he severely regrets leaving Newcastle and should have stayed on Tyneside where he had an excellent relationship with Howe.