Chelsea confirm appointment of Glenn van der Kraan as Academy technical director
Today at 09:19 PM
New leadership
Three months after it was first reported, Chelsea have now officially confirmed the appointment of Glenn van der Kraan, who has become the new technical director of the Chelsea Academy.
Van der Kraan comes over from Manchester City's academy, where he had spent the last four years as "Head of Coaching", and, as per The Athletic, "established a strong reputation across the industry for his work around talent development at age-group level". Prior to that, he worked for a decade at Feyenoord, following a two-year stint at RSC Anderlecht to begin his career. Strong credentials, indeed.
In related news, Chelsea have also confirmed that Jack Francis has been elevated to Academy Football Operations Director (back in July already as well, as his LinkedIn reveals). Francis has been with Chelsea for well over 13 years now, working initially as an international coach on behalf of the club in New Zealand and the USA, then serving as the Head of Player Care in the Academy for over a decade. More recently he was the Academy Manager for age groups 9-16 before taking on this new role. Nice to see some continuity in the organization!
So, it looks like Van der Kraan and Francis have taken on most of the key responsibilities that used to belong to Neil Bath and Jim Fraser, who left (or resigned, in Bath's case) in the summer. Recruitment will remain the remit of Joe Shields and Sam Jewell, and presumably everyone will report to the two sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.
