Lovelady's pursuit of Potter and Still's pathway

BBC News

25-02-2025

"Although I am young at 27, I've been coaching for 10 years. I started at 17."Kieron Lovelady's pathway to coaching is still rather unusual in the football world, not just because of his age.In an industry dominated by managers with a background in playing professional football, very few make it to the very top having plied their trade as a coach from the very beginning.But Lovelady has done things differently - and it has led to his current role as assistant manager of Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor.Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, he charted his journey from youth football to one of the biggest leagues in Europe, with some help from Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler's academy along the way.
Watch BBC Radio Lancashire's interview with Kieron Lovelady, external
Given his coaching journey started young, Lovelady's pathway began in his teens while he was still playing football.From Scarisbrick, Lovelady began coaching at Southport Trinity having gradually become more interested in that side of the game rather than playing."At 15 or 16, coming to the end of school, I wasn't playing for a high-profile academy, I knew my route was always going to be through coaching and hopefully one day being a manager in my own right as well," he said."I've been quite fortunate. I took over the team that I always played for then I went to Robbie Fowler's football college as a student initially."In my second year there I took over Southport's under-18 youth team. I instantly found opportunities for myself. "While I was studying at the college, I took my badges and after I finished my course there, instead of going to university straight away, I was fortunate enough that they offered me a job. So I was in a position where I was living and breathing it."Opportunities with Rochdale and Preston North End followed before he landed at Manchester City, where he spent three years and travelled around Europe coaching in their youth setup."I've had some amazing experiences working in academy football," Lovelady continued."The three seasons [I was] at Manchester City was an amazing experience in terms of everything that comes with being a coach - the facilities, the academy structure and the opportunity to go on tours abroad."
Lovelady's time at City came to an end earlier this year when he made the move to Turkey's Super Lig to join Adana Demirspor boss Mustafa Alper Avcı as his first-team coach.He has since been joined by former Charlton Athletic and Bristol Rovers boss Dean Holden in the Turkish side's backroom setup.Lovelady, who worked with Alper Avcı at City, has his work cut out with Demirspor bottom of the Super Lig having won just twice in 24 league games this season."The whole thing's a massive challenge. We've come in at the bottom of the table. The club has had a transfer ban and points deducted. That in itself is a big challenge," he said."Obviously you accompany that with the language and trying to get the players organised and it's very difficult. We're giving it our best go."Demirspor have picked up one point from the four matches that Alper Avcı has taken charge of and are deep in a relegation battle, but Lovelady has seen the positives among their squad as they try to salvage some pride for the remainder of the season."We've noticed that the players in the group have got really good quality and we've watched so much footage of previous games before we came in and the work and shape out of possession is something we've really got to tidy up," he continued."We've got to make the group more compact and organised. So we've been working on the training field so hard to make sure we're organised and trying to stay in games."
Lovelady, unlike many coaches in football, did not have a successful career playing the game before entering coaching.He has also picked up his first job in senior football abroad, a path that traditionally few English coaches take.He has, however, followed in the footsteps of West Ham United boss Graham Potter and Lens boss Will Still, who forged their managerial careers in similar fashion."There's a big conversation to be had about the lack of opportunities for English coaches but English coaches have got to be prepared to do the hard yards in order to get those jobs," Lovelady said."I'm a huge fan of Graham Potter and what he did in his career, going to the lower leagues of Scandinavia and building his way up from there."Years later he comes back to take the Swansea job and did a fantastic job with them, went to Brighton and then landed a huge opportunity at Chelsea."He would be the perfect example of someone who can go and do the hard yards and opportunities have fell in place for him. So why couldn't they fall in place for someone like me or any other young coaches watching and listening now?"