Director of Football at Port Vale FC: Port Vale have announced that David Flitcroft will take on a new role at the club.
An official statement said:
Port Vale is delighted to announce the appointment of David Flitcroft as its new Director of Football.
He will immediately begin supporting Interim Manager Danny Pugh with First Team affairs while taking responsibility for the appointment of the new Manager.
Dave, 47, brings with him a wealth of experience in football, business and management – having spent more than 30 years in the game as a player, coach and manager.
He was the manager at Barnsley, Bury, Swindon and Mansfield where he clocked up more than 300 games and had an average win percentage of more than 40 per cent.
Dave guided Barnsley to Championship safety in the 2012/13 season, led Bury to promotion to League One in the 2013/14 season and led Swindon to seventh place in League Two before joining promotion rivals Mansfield Town who he took to the playoffs in 2019.
During his time in management he has a proven track record of developing young players which clubs have been able to sell on.
Dave will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of football operations at Port Vale – from the development of training facilities and enhancement of coaching, backroom support and analysis to player recruitment and development.
Port Vale co-owner and Chair Carol Shanahan OBE said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have Dave join the Board at Port Vale. What began as conversations around the managerial vacancy developed into an understanding that we needed more investment to support all aspects of the core football business.
“Dave is vastly experienced, deeply passionate about the game and understands the potential in Port Vale FC. Our aspiration is to become an established Championship club and Dave will help us to shape that vision and put the building blocks in place for our continued evolution.”
Dave said: “I am delighted to join the Board at Port Vale and excited to start working with Danny (Pugh), the backroom team, the players and my fellow Directors.
“I admire the ambition, vision and investment of the owners. Port Vale fans have really been through the mill over the last 20 years but their support has been first class – no matter what. I’ll be working to give them a football operation to be proud of – demanding excellence as standard and 100 per cent graft and commitment. It’s a hugely exciting project to be part of.”
I am pleased that David Flitcroft has been chosen to join the Vale but I am not too sure what role a Director of Football plays. Suppose we will have to wait and see but in the meantime let’s start winning on a regular basis – we have got the players to do it we need them to combine together and play the sort of football we know is within their capability. The problem is I keep saying this and I am now getting desperate to see it happen.
Needed experienced manager not director of football. This could have been done at the end of the season when the team was safe. Instead leave Pugh in charge of team affairs who obviously can’t get anything out of the players we have. This is a recipe for disaster and expected more from the owners. Very disappointed and can only see struggles and perhaps non league football on the horizon.
This is absolutely bizarre. We are a League 2 team. I understand the Shanahans are new to football ownership and need guidance but I am confused by this appointment. We need a manager, not paying this joker to help manage the manager. Appointing this weapon after he declined the manager role is just bad news. So disappointing.
It may seem a strange decision but we have to remember that Carol and Kevin run a successful buisness ,that’s done by recruiting the right people in the right roles ,building the right structure to get this club back where we should be is key to our success ,get the right manager in and let’s see if they can build what we all want ,which is a well ran successful football club