Wolves’ new academy manager Kevin Thelwell believes he has a tough act to follow in Chris Evans.
Thelwell, who joined the club from Derby, started work this week after replacing long-serving Chris Evans after becoming the youngest Academy manager in the country at 32 two years ago.
Evans spent 17 years in a similar role before joining Bolton as assistant manager to boss Gary Megson. During Evans’s time at Molineux, more than £15m was raised from the sale of players, including current Premier League stars Robbie Keane and Joleon Lescott.
Tottenham striker Keane became the then costliest teenager when he moved to Coventry for £6m in 1999 while £5m Everton defender Lescott became the first Wolves-bred full England international since Tim Flowers.
“There has always been huge support for the Academy at Wolves and plenty of opportunity for young players to go into the first team,” said Thelwell.
“That was the main factor in me coming here because Wolves are steeped in the tradition of producing their own players.
“I know Chris Evans quite well and had a good relationship with him when I was at my previous clubs. I’ll be trying to carry on the valuable work he did here.
“I watched a practice game among our under-15 and under-16 lads on Monday night and thought the standard was very high, so that was an encouraging start.
“It is a huge operation with Wolves having almost 150 registered young players from the age of nine upwards and this job will take a lot of my time.
“But it’s a challenge I’m very excited about taking on.”
Thelwell – born in Warrington, same town as former Molineux record scorer and managing director John Richards – plans to move down from Cheshire as soon as he can.
“It’s one of the realities of the game that you have to be prepared to move and I plan to move the family here in a year or so after our daughter has done her school exams.”
Thelwell, who started his playing career at Shrewsbury before moving into non-League with Congleton and Winsford, spent a year at Preston after four years teaching the UEFA Pro Licence and ‘A’ licence.
5 Comments
Come on me babies!
welcome to one of the most successful youth setups in the country
Welcome aboard. If you can produce from the raw material more Lescotts and Keanes…we’ll all be very grateful, particularly if they are playing in the Premier for us and not Everton..
if he can be as good as Chris Evans, then fair play to him. Find us another Lescott plz!
Welcome Kevin, you do have a hard act to follow after Chris, but you will find the fans will appreciate all your hard work.
We like nothing better than one of our own playing in the team. Although the ‘club’ has no official members, all of us who support the Wolves believe that we are part of a club, and the kids you are going to mentor and guide are part of that club as well.
Best of luck, and please give it your best for all of us club members.