Sunderland AFC have confirmed the appointment of Michael Beale as Head Coach, on a contract running until 2026.
Mike Dodds has been promoted to Assistant Head Coach, with Michael Proctor and Alessandro Barcherini continuing in their respective roles.
Beale began his career working at the academies of Chelsea and Liverpool, before taking up assistant manager roles at Sao Paulo, Rangers and Aston Villa.
He was appointed manager of QPR in June 2022, before moving to Rangers - where he spent 10 months and had a 77.42% win rate.
Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman said: “We have monitored Michael’s career for some time and we are delighted to have reached an agreement for him to become our new Head Coach. He has an excellent and well-founded reputation for developing players and he is an outstanding progressive coach, who is aligned with our playing identity and naturally fits within our structure alongside Mike Dodds and the wider team. We continue to trust in our established process of identifying the right candidates to take us forward at these junctures and although Michael has had a setback, we feel we are getting him at the right time in his coaching journey and our journey as a Club.”
Beale added: “It’s a huge honour to be joining the Sunderland family and I would like to thank Kyril, Kristjaan and the rest of the Executive Team for the faith and responsibility they have placed in me. The existing coaching team deserve huge credit for the way they navigated the interim period and like all of the staff at the Club, they will continue to be vitally important moving forward alongside the incredible fans that make SAFC such an historic and unique Club. It’s clear there is some excellent work being done at senior and academy level and I’m excited to support those efforts and implement my own ideas, as we build on the strong identity already established within the Club.”
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus concluded: “I’m thrilled to welcome Michael to our Club and wish him every success here at the Stadium of Light. Throughout our discussions, it was clear that he shares our ideals on implementing a high-performance culture and he is committed to a playing style that we feel is central to our progress. I would also like to place on record my gratitude to Mike Dodds and our coaching team for not only leading us through the interim period, but for adopting a bold and creative approach that inspired memorable back-to-back wins. Alongside Michael, I truly believe our people will continue to drive the Club forward as we enter 2024 with renewed energy, excitement and optimism.”
