14-05-2025
Bolton Wanderers sporting director Fergal Harkin sets starting date for new post
FERGAL Harkin is expected to take up his role as Bolton Wanderers' new sporting director after his final game at Standard Liege this weekend.
The Belgian press claim Saturday's game against FCV Dender will be his last in post, after which former Belgium international Marc Wilmots will be installed as his replacement.
Irishman Harkin played for Leicester City and Bohemians before moving into marketing with Nike and then spending a successful decade with Manchester City.
Before taking up the job with Standard, he was strongly linked with the director of football job at Celtic and his appointment at Wanderers was described as a 'momentous occasion' by chairman Sharon Brittan when it was confirmed in March.
Harkin will oversee all football operations, including player recruitment, academy development, scouting, sports science and performance analysis at Wanderers, working with head coach Steven Schumacher and his incoming head of recruitment, Jimmy Dickinson.
Though he will only be in office from early next week, Harkin has already liaised closely with Schumacher about the type of players that are needed to push Bolton to the top of League One.
'We've been in regular contact for a while now,' Schumacher told The Bolton News. 'Any head coach or manager has got to have a clear idea of how they want their team to play and we'll recruit to a certain system, we will try and get profiles of players who we think play in that system and help the team.
'We also have to recruit for some future planning too – we need some youth in this squad. We also need some experience. We'll have our hands all over it.
'But I enjoy that side of it, we can't wait to get going.'
Pre-season is already taking shape, with Wanderers expected to convene at the end of June for pre-season testing, followed by a training camp, with details yet to be confirmed.
The likes of Josh Sheehan, Eoin Toal, Will Forrester, Aaron Morley and Jordi Osei-Tutu are expected to be free from the injuries which curtailed their season, and there has not yet been any confirmation on Kyle Dempsey or Carlos Mendes Gomes. Victor Adeboyejo is unlikely to figure until the tail end of the year.
The pre-season fixture schedule is also nearly complete, leaving Schumacher to push on with plans to strengthen the squad.
'Pretty much pre-season is organised,' he said. 'Knowing a couple of weeks ago that we are where we are, there wouldn't be a play-off game to extend it all, it has given us more time to plan things.
'We sat down with the sports science and medical team and figured out what the pre-season would look like. The fixtures are getting there or thereabouts, we know when we are going on the trip, so the next thing is recruitment.
'Nothing can happen right at this moment but the conversations and the planning on how we attack it is well underway.'
Asked of his own plans for a summer break, Schumacher admitted the workload doesn't make it easy.
He added: 'I'll have a week or two with the family trying to switch off but I can honestly say I never do, the phone never stops, it's what I love and why I do this job.
'I've got an understanding wife, she's one of the best – or the best I've ever had, anyway!'
