Brighton appoint Dan Ashworth as Technical Director

Brighton and Hove Albion have pulled off quite the coup by appointing the FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth to an identical role at the Amex.

Ashworth will take up the position in the Spring after resigning from his role at St George’s Park, for which he garnered huge credit for the recent success of England’s age group teams.

He came to prominence during a six year spell as Sporting Director at West Bromwich Albion from 2007 until he was headhunted by the FA in 2013.

In that time, Ashworth helped turn the Baggies from a club that yo-yoed between Premier League and Championship into a solid top flight outfit.

He was responsible for a raft of successful managerial appointments and a transfer policy that allowed West Brom to punch well above their means.

Perhaps the biggest indication of Ashworth’s worth at the Hawthorns is the way that the club have steadily declined since his departure. That ended with relegation at the end of last season, although they did still manage to defeat Brighton 2-0 along the way.

Ashworth has overseen the transition into St George’s Park and was responsible for the “England DNA” plan. While it sounded like technical speak bollocks straight from the mouth of David Brent, it has actually proven extremely successful and essentially involved a greater emphasis on getting young players tournament experience, creating a pathway from youth teams through to the senior squad and ensuring every England side played the same way.

The results speak for themselves. Since Ashworth arrived at the FA, England have lifted an Under 17 World Cup, an Under 18 Toulon Tournament, an Under 19 European Championships, an Under 20 World Cup and the Under 21s have reached a European semi final.

He’s also overseen a first ever third place finish for the Lionesses in the 2015 World Cup and a European Championship semi final exit. Oh, and we don’t know whether you noticed, but the senior men’s side also reached their own World Cup semi for only the third time ever in the summer.

Brighton have never had a Technical Director before Ashworth’s appointment, the closest thing probably being when David the Burke was “Head of Football”. That was a complete and utter shambles, with such brilliant ideas as replacing Leonardo Ulloa with Chris O’Grady and signing so many loan players that at one point, Sami Hyypia couldn’t select two of them because we had exceeded the limit of temporary signings allowed in a matchday squad.

Everything points to the appointment of Ashworth being a far greater success than Burke’s reign of terror. In his role as Technical Director, the Albion have said that Ashworth will be responsible for overseeing the academy and medical departments, as well as player recruitment at all levels.

His biggest challenge will be in replicating the player pathway that saw England take so many young players to the World Cup. The Albion have spent millions on recruitment for the development squad, yet not one player has broken through to become a first team regular since Solly March over five years ago.

Gareth Southgate told the BBC, “I don’t think he could have had a bigger impact with the plans he put in place at the FA and the way that the national teams have progressed in the time Dan has been in charge.

“That’s coupled with the transition into St George’s Park and the outstanding staff structure he’s put in place. I think he can be really proud.”

High praise indeed and just another sign of the ambition that the Albion have to remain a Premier League side for a long time to come.