ACADEMY APPOINT NEW HEAD OF COACHING

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Jimmy Hunter takes up key role

2025-06-05T14:00:00.000Z

ACADEMY APPOINT NEW HEAD OF COACHING

Jimmy Hunter takes up key role

2025-06-05T14:00:00.000Z

Jimmy Hunter takes up key role

Burnley Football Club can confirm that Jimmy Hunter has taken up the position of Head of Coaching within our Academy, as it prepares to return to Category One status next season.

Hunter arrives in Burnley with more than 13 years’ experience at Category One level with Stoke City, alongside further positions with the Welsh FA and other professional clubs.

Explaining why he wanted to join the Clarets, he said: “I am excited to be joining a club with ambition and potential.

“It has had a good season, not only in terms of the first team gaining promotion to the Premier League but also the Academy achieving Category One status.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of supporting our programme with the aim of becoming an even higher performing academy in the future.

“The area’s a strong one for players and I’ve worked with Chris (Casper – Academy Manager) previously too. There’s a lot of good work in place here and it should just be about building on that.”

ACADEMY APPOINT NEW HEAD OF COACHING - Image 1

After a semi-professional playing career, Hunter started his off-field journey in football as a Coach Developer for the Welsh FA.

The role included looking after the coach development programme for regional and national teams, and Hunter progressed to being Assistant Technical Programmes Manager for Wales.

From there came spells at Derby County, Chester and Wrexham, before a move to Stoke City. After a year part time in the Potteries, he spent most of his 13 full-time years there as the Head of Coaching.

Explaining what the job entails, he continued: “It’s quite broad and varied.

“A big thing is overseeing the development of the coaching philosophy and working with staff to develop their skills, so that they can deliver to the highest level and ensure consistency from the U9s to the U21s.

“The audit report’s come back and there’s nothing that stands out majorly there, so we’re looking forward to challenging ourselves against the best.

“The schoolboy programme won’t change much next season but for the U18s and U21s, who have both had strong seasons at Category Two level, the levels will go up.

“We expect the players to step up and embrace that, and as a group of staff we will too to ensure that we give the kids the best opportunity possible.”

ACADEMY APPOINT NEW HEAD OF COACHING - Image 2

Hunter finished by reflecting on the link between the academy and the first team, with seven U21s featuring in one of Scott Parker’s matchday squads during the 2024/25 season.

“We’re here to prepare players for the first team, so there has to be some togetherness and clarity on that for the players,” he said.

“The first team’s aim is to win games of football, and we have to prepare our players for that environment later down the line.

“However, they’re not first team players now so they have to be treated like the young people they are. They’re developing from a social side, as well as their football.

“It’s also about that alignment throughout the age groups, so that when they do step up it’s not as difficult.”