Newcastle United appoint former Sunderland manager to leadership role at St James' Park

Former Sunderland manager Jack Ross has been appointed as Newcastle United’s new head of strategic technical football partnerships, according to an update on his official LinkedIn page.

He made a post on the site to commemorate the occasion, writing: “I am happy to share that I am starting a new position as Head of Strategic Technical Football Partnerships at Newcastle United Football Club.”

The move is particularly interesting given Ross’ history with Newcastle’s bitter rivals Sunderland - previously, the 48 year old had been head coach of the Black Cats from 2018 to 2019. He has been with Newcastle since 2023, when he was initially appointed as their interim head of coach development. He assumed the role on a permanent basis in June of 2023.

As a player, Ross featured for clubs such Falkirk, Hamilton and Hartlepool United. He spent the bulk of his playing years with Clyde, making 159 league appearances and scoring nine goals over the course of five years for the Bully Wee.

Ross has spoken on his suitability for such a role in the past, saying [via Not The Old Firm]: “Sporting director is an area I want to pursue because ironically I don’t think there’s that many people with my background in the role. That’s surprising and if you do a deeper dive there’s actually not that many who have been managers or players.

“Dan [Ashworth] mentored me and spent a lot of time with me and one of the gaps I had in my CV was academy experience so this has been brilliantly insightful.

“I thought I knew it all in football but far from it. If I was to be a first team manager again there are bits that I would definitely take into it from here, which is the greatest compliment I could pay it.”