Aston Villa promote FA Youth Cup winning boss to under-21s

The former Albion interim boss has been working in Villa’s academy set-up since last summer and enjoyed a superb season as lead coach of the under-18s, leading them to a trio of trophies, including the Youth Cup.

Shan has now been moved up to take charge of the under-21s, replacing Josep Gombau who is leaving Villa after 18 months in the role.

“The club is very excited by the talent of our Academy players,” Villa’s president of football operations, Monchi, explained. 

“Jimmy has shown his ability to conduct and develop players with the under-18s winning the league and the FA Youth Cup and we look forward to watching him work with our under-21s.”

Shan, who began his coaching career at Blues before moving to Albion, was in the opposing dugout when Villa beat the Baggies on penalties in the 2019 Championship play-off semi-finals.

After leaving The Hawthorns that summer, following the appointment of Slaven Bilic as Darren Moore’s permanent successor, he went on to manage Kidderminster Harriers and Solihull Moors before coaching stints in the EFL with Rochdale, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town.

Shan, who had enjoyed several temporary stints at Bodymoor Heath in recent years between jobs in the senior game, was then offered the permanent role of U18s lead coach last year by Villa’s academy chief Mark Harrison, his former boss with the Baggies.

The season ended up being a superb one, with Villa’s youngsters topping the U18s Premier League southern section table, before beating northern section winners Manchester City in the final.

That came after they had already beaten City 3-1 in the Youth Cup final, halting their opponents 27-match winning run in front of more than 25,000 fans at Villa Park.

Speaking to the Express & Star ahead of the final last month, Shan described working at Bodymoor Heath as “a privilege” with the club’s owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, having invested heavily in the academy since their takeover seven years ago.

Villa’s under-21s finished bottom of the Premier League Two table this season but progressed further than any other academy team in the Vertu Trophy, losing to Bradford in the last-16. 

They also reached the same stage of the UEFA Youth League before being knocked out by Barcelona.