‘Very excited’ - Ex-Newcastle United and Sunderland coach joins South Shields

The Mariners have announced that Elliott Dickman has been appointed as their new 16-19’s academy manager. Dickman joins the set-up at South Shields having previously held roles at both Newcastle United and Sunderland.

Dickman joined Newcastle from Sunderland shortly after the takeover of the club in October 2021 and spent 14 months on Tyneside before leaving his role as Under-21 lead player development coach at the end of 2022.

Speaking about his new role, Dickman said: “I’m very excited and grateful to have been given this great opportunity to be part of the club. I was very impressed with the vision the club has in the conversations I had with (chairman) Geoff Thompson and (sporting director) Lee Picton, and this is a fantastic chance for me to continue to help young players develop, improve and hopefully progress into the first-team.

“This is a club with great potential and the reputation of the Academy within football circles in the North East is really strong. Lots of people speak very highly of the programme and the way the lads have been coached, and I can already see what a progressive club this is.

“It has a very family feel about it and I’m honoured to be part of it now.”

South Shields are currently preparing for their upcoming campaign in the Vanarama National North under new boss Julio Arca. Arca, who played for Middlesbrough and Sunderland before enjoying a successful spell at Shields during his time in England, replaced former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips as manager in April.