The Club are delighted to announce the appointment of Craig Cope as our new Head of Football Operations.
Craig will join us from Solihull Moors, where he has been technical director for four years. Prior to that he had recruitment and analytical roles at Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Notts County and Cheltenham Town. He will take up his post on January 9.
Craig will report to AFC Wimbledon chair Mick Buckley and the PLC board and he’ll work closely with first team manager Johnnie Jackson.
Craig will be responsible for overseeing all of the club’s football operations - including recruitment, scouting, analysis, technical and medical support, and all training ground logistics, as well as liaising closely with the Academy on player pathway. A full interview with Craig will follow early in the new year when he takes up his new role.
The club and plc board were advised throughout the recruitment process by a number of people working at senior levels of the game, including four former Premier League managers, one of whom was part of the interview panel process.
The Club would like to record their thanks for all the help and support received during this process.
Club chair Mick Buckley explained: “We conducted a thorough search of candidates and we looked closely at the different individuals and skillsets league one and league two clubs have appointed to similar roles - in order to determine what would best ‘fit’ us here.
“We are delighted to have secured Craig’s services and are looking forward to seeing what his drive, knowledge, determination and enthusiasm will bring to the role. He was extremely impressive in the capabilities and insight he showed during the interview process. We believe his experience gained in building out an inaugural technical director role at Solihull will be invaluable as we look to overhaul and improve all aspects of our football operations.”
The Club are pleased to confirm that Jamie Johnson, who took up a fixed-term contracted role to deliver recruitment support in the summer, will remain in post until after the end of the January transfer window.
Mick added: “Jamie has done a great job since last summer working with Johnnie on transfer targets, potential loans and the successful exit of players in a challenging transfer market. A lot of preparatory work has already been done ahead of the January transfer window so we are very pleased Jamie will be staying to work through that period at least. Further into the New Year once Craig has settled into his new role we will update our plans for resources and staffing going forward.”