Everton have officially confirmed four appointments to helm their new football leadership structure under new owners The Friedkin Group. They have moved away from a single-point director of football model and instead opted for a “flatter structure” overseen by chief executive officer Angus Kinnear.
The club has opted for “a football leadership team made up of specialists in technical development, football operations, talent ID, data analytics and player trading.”
Nick Cox has been appointed as the technical director, James Smtith as the director of scouting and recruitment, Chris Howarth will be responsible for directing the club’s football strategy and analytics operations, while Nick Hammond will lead player trading activity and negotiations.
“I’m delighted with the appointments of Nick, James and Nick. Their CVs speak for themselves – they are exceptional operators, hugely respected in the game and an example of the ambition we hold as a Club in ensuring the pathways and structures in place across our football operations are of the very highest standard,” said Everton CEO Angus Kinnear.
These four will work in tandem with the club CEO and with the men’s and women’s senior team head coaches David Moyes and Brian Sorensen respectively.
“The new football leadership structure will ensure our two managers have the very best support, and the very best operators driving the key football operations, to ensure our collective ambitions are realised,” Kinnear added.
As technical director, Nick Cox will be responsible for “ensuring all aspects of Finch Farm are at the elite level, covering the medical, operations, facilities and player care departments, as well as the academy functions.”
He is currently the academy director at Manchester United, a role he has served in since 2019. Cox also served as head of academy operations for three years prior to his promotion.
James Smith will return to Everton after spending 10 years as part of the club’s recruitment and insights team. He has the experience of working with Moyes before and Smith will join in September from his current position as director of scouting and recruitment at City Football Group. He has also worked at Manchester United before joining cross-town rivals City.
Chris Howarth, founder of Insider Sport, will “ensure the club is at the vanguard of data optimisation in the development of all aspects of football operations” after his data consultancy firm was acquired by The Friedkin Group.
He has the experience of working with 14 clubs across Europe and is regarded as one of the most advanced thinkers in sports analytics.
“I’m equally delighted by our appointment of Chris and ownership’s strategic acquisition of Insight Sport, which is a further sign of our ownership’s ambition for Everton and I believe step-changes our analytics capability and will deliver us a long-term competitive advantage,” Kinnear said about the appointment of Chris Howarth.
Nick Hammond worked as a transfer consultant at Newcastle United and also with Angus Kinnear at Leeds United. He served as director of football at Reading for 13 years and has also been the technical director at West Brom and the head of football operations at Celtic. He is viewed as a skilled specialist in transfer dealings.
Reader Comments (22)
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John Pickles
1 Posted
20/06/2025 at
17:02:55
Er yes, this is what Michael explained yesterday!
Paul Kossoff
3 Posted
20/06/2025 at
17:28:16
You would think with all these, supposedly best at whatever they do, we would have bought a couple of signings in by now.
Do we have enough first team players for a match day squad?
Kean won’t sign, DLC wont sign, Gueye won’t sign, Branthwaite looking at a new contract, players already left. Maybe some of the so called board room recruits could be given player contracts, just in case dithering Davey dosn’t get a move on and actually sign somebody.
But I suppose thing’s are looking up, with more match day trains and buses, what can go wrong?
Ian Wilkins
4 Posted
20/06/2025 at
17:31:41
Bringing in some hopefully carefully selected professionals who will improve our recruitment, our academy and the overall running of the club, can only be a good thing.
The academy has been in need of an overhaul for some time, more youngsters should be pressing for first team places.
From here it depends on results and putting quality onto the pitch at first team and junior levels.
Were not going to buy £60m plus players, we need to identify emerging talent.
Paul Kossoff
5 Posted
20/06/2025 at
17:43:42
Ian 4.”The academy has been in need of an overhaul for some time, more youngsters should be pressing for first team places.”
The academy should be scrapped, it’s not fit for purpose. Not one of the academy is good enough for the first team, if they were we would have them as first team regulars by now. Moyes better get a move on, or once again we will be looking in the bargain basement bin for cast offs, and free transfers to just increase the squad not improve it.
Ryan Holroyd
6 Posted
20/06/2025 at
17:57:47
It’s not even 1st July and some people just moan moan moan and fucking moan.
Do people not get tired of moaning and complaining.
Your poor wives
We won’t sign players until after 1st July so stop going on.
The academy should be scrapped!!! what a load of nonsense.
Do people not remember Anthony Gordon!! without his sale the club would have had an even bigger PSR breach and been relegated.
Thick as mince some people on here.
Ryan Holroyd
7 Posted
20/06/2025 at
17:59:12
Slag the club off and people can’t get players names right who have been here 8 years.
Michael Kenrick
8 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:00:04
The Athletic (aka New York Times) has good ear to the ground in Paddy Boland.
Paddy writes up what he knows in a very erudite article in The Athletic.
Keen eyes and ears at ToffeeWeb Towers spot a good story and try to summarize the meaty bits for our small gaggle of ardent Everton watchers.
The Echo, never slow off the bench, reads ToffeeWeb and realizes they should really be on top of the new flat white structure.
The Team at ToffeeWeb, scouring the wires for news, see an important story published in the local press, and were all over it! No flies on us!!!
Did I miss anything?
Paul Kossoff
9 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:03:55
Ryan, if you are referring to me the answer is a definite Yes! I’m a habitual moaner, of the highest order and I admit it. My favourite painting is the moaner Lisa, (I would have used more colour and a better frame.) I firmly believe my calling on TW is to bitch, and moan and complain. If it gets people to do what I’m doing, which is moaning and bitching, then I’ve achieved my goal, which is to turn people like you, into a moaning bitching poster.😁
Ryan Holroyd
10 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:06:11
Love it Paul!!!!!!!!!
Paul Kossoff
11 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:06:23
Rian 7 “Oh and Its KeanE not Kean” for fk sake, stop moaning and bitching. Complaining about spelling, Jeeeeeez!!!
Paul Kossoff
12 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:06:57
Thanks Ryan.😁
Danny O’Neill
13 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:09:03
You’ve now labelled fellow Evertonians as “clueless idiots” and “thick as mince in one week for having an opinion.
We are better than that.
You need to meet some of us pre-match.
EUGENE RUANE
14 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:17:55
“Football leadership structure”?
Wonder how much these FOUR jobs will cost?
Excuse my cynicism but this all seems very complicated (?) and…um…un-Moyes-like.
“..the clubs football strategy and analytics operations and player trading activity and negotiations”
And…
“..covering the medical, operations, facilities and player care departments, as well as the academy functions.”
Or…
“..I believe step-changes our analytics capability and will deliver us a long-term competitive advantage,”
Really?
Why, will other clubs not be doing all this?
Sorry but I find it very difficult to get worked up about signings who aren’t players.
Wonder who’ll be next…
Russell Upsome-Grubb – Squad dietician.
Duane Pipe – Assistant youth development officer.
Chris P. Baykon – Assistant to the assistant youth development officer.
Tom Orro – Youth Development Officer.
Juan Kerr – Development liaison officer.
Sawyer Ringpeece III – Head of U.S Recruitment.
Bjorn Toby Wilde – Scandinavian Recruitment Director.
Etc blah.
Paul Kossoff
15 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:18:09
Danny, I think Ryan meant “clueless idiots” and “thick as mince in one week for having no onion.😁.
Sean Kelly
16 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:20:31
I like mince
Sean Kelly
17 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:22:16
And I like it thick with onions
Robert Tressell
18 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:24:53
I am sure Moyes will manage with quality people around him. In any case he’s only here for another 2 seasons. Hopefully successful club infrastructure is around for a lot longer than that.
Let’s give it a chance. It won’t deliver success immediately to a club currently ranked as 17th out of 20 by Transfermarkt – with a squad of only c. 10 players without question marks hanging over them – but it has a much higher chance of success than doing nothing with the operational side of the club (which has been really shit for a long time).
Ryan Holroyd
19 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:26:28
(ok Danny point taken)
Si Pulford
20 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:31:16
But Eugine isnt happy?!! Would people prefer it if we carried on in the old way? Run by mates of the chairman or people who might do a half decent job given the chance?! We all know there will be no signings until the new PSR year. Thats July 1st. Before then theyre getting serious football people with great CVs into important positions s so were run like an actual professional club.
But the cynicism and moaning just keeps coming. Not one of these fellers has done
Anything yet and theyre already getting slagged off?
The academy isnt fit for purpose. Well lets get the feller from ManUs academy. – The team that has fielded an academy player in every game theyve played for about thirty years!!! No? Ok bad idea. Fair play.
Kev Johnson
21 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:35:04
This. FFS.
Paul Kossoff
22 Posted
20/06/2025 at
18:54:21
Si 20. “The academy isnt fit for purpose. Well lets get the feller from ManUs academy. – The team that has fielded an academy player in every game theyve played for about thirty years!!!”
Surely you agree then the fact that we have had to get that tells from ManUs academy in means our academy isn’t fit for purpose!
Paul Kossoff
23 Posted
20/06/2025 at
19:03:01
All seems the recruitment policy is ignoring the player side and creating jobs that are possibly not really needed.
Oh for the old days when the manager coaches and owner sat down and talked about what (players) would be brought in to improve the team, not how many more seats are needed in the board room.
Re mince, Chilli con carne carne be beaten.
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