Mark Dempsey will take charge of Manchester United Under-23s next season after the departure of former head coach Neil Wood to become manager at League Two side Salford City.
Dempsey will remain as senior academy coach but that role will now involve taking charge of the Under-23s side on a matchday, with support from Paul McShane. Travis Binnion is staying as Under-18s lead coach, but he has been promoted to head of player development and coaching at the academy after the departure of Justin Cochrane.
Cochrane has won plaudits for his work at United since joining a year ago and he's now set to take up a first-team coaching role at another Premier League club, believed to be Brentford.
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The Under-23s have seen Wood and his assistant Neil Ryan leave recently, but Dempsey will bring plenty of experience to the role having managed senior teams in Scandanavia. As a player he graduated through the United academy in the 1980s and returned in a coaching role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's staff, before moving to the academy in 2020.
He will be assisted by McShane, who is staying on at United despite hanging up his boots. The 36-year-old played for the Under-23s as an on-pitch coach last season, a relatively new and pioneering role.
Now he's retired he will become a full-time coach in the academy as well as assisting on matchday. United want to replace McShane's player-coach role before the start of next season, but are aware the player pool is relatively small.
Nick Cox, head of United's academy, said: “We are really pleased to confirm the new coaching structure for the professional development phase. The increase in flexibility reflects our bespoke approach to player development, focusing on supporting individuals to reach their potential by working with each specialist coach at the optimal time.
“Travis, Mark and Paul all played a pivotal role in the academy’s success last season, in which four graduates made their debuts and the Under-18s won the Youth Cup. They possess an outstanding set of complementary skills that will best support this group of players.
“Naturally, we are pleased that Justin has been able to fulfil his ambition of working in a first-team environment.
“I am proud of the world-class learning environment that we have created for our staff and take great satisfaction in seeing them progress both within the club or through external opportunities.
“The changes implement an ideal blend of long-standing club personnel and outstanding external appointments as we continue to appoint best-in-class staff throughout our world-leading youth development system."
Long-standing coaches Colin Little and Kevin Wolfe will remain at the club to support the Under-18s group. As well as a new player-coach, United also want to recruit a goalkeeping coach and a phase coach before the start of the new season.
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