Heart of Midlothian is pleased to welcome Shelley Kerr to the club in the new role of Technical Development Manager.
The former Scotland Women’s National Team Head Coach has been appointed to support the development of players and coaches across the male academy set-up at Oriam.
Shelley’s primary role will be to make the development process from academy to first team more strategic and efficient, implementing a technical and tactical framework to help players and coaches aspire to fulfil their potential at Heart of Midlothian.
As part of her remit, she will also assist new B Team Head Coach Angus Beith.
Shelley joins after a period as Technical Lead and Head of Women’s Development Teams with the English FA, where she played a key role in the implementation and development of the How We Play strategy for the women’s game.
She led the Scotland Women’s National Team to the 2019 FIFA World Cup during her three years in charge and earned 59 caps as a player for the national team.
Shelley was also Head Coach of Arsenal Women’s team and became the first female manager in the senior men’s game when she took charge of Stirling University in the Scottish Lowland Football League.
Shelley now brings her knowledge and expertise to the Jambos as new Sporting Director Graeme Jones bolsters the football department.
“Shelley’s extensive experience and skill set is ideally suited to this new role at the club and I look forward to working with her to harness the development pathway leading to the first team,” he said.
“She will support Angus from a coaching perspective with the B Team but her remit will be far more wide-ranging, from 18s through to B Team.
“She will have an overview of the talent pipeline – of coaches as well as players – but fundamentally the job of Technical Development Manager is to make the route towards the first team clearer for those on the journey.
“As well as her coaching experience and UEFA Pro Licence, what made Shelley stand out was the work undertaken with the English FA in taking the principle of a high-performance environment and implementing key physical, tactical and technical strategies and objectives.”
Shelley Kerr: “Firstly, I would like to thank Graeme, the football department and the board at Heart of Midlothian for the opportunity to work in such an important role at the club.
“I am fortunate to have undertaken a variety of leadership roles across men’s and women’s football since I retired as a player and I am excited to bring the accumulation of that knowledge and experience to Heart of Midlothian”
