Bournemouth's Hughes named Liverpool Sporting Director
Richard Hughes: Worked with Michael Edwards when he was a player at Portsmouth
Written by Training Ground Guru — March 20, 2024
RICHARD HUGHES has been appointed as the new Sporting Director of Liverpool after a decade at Bournemouth.
The 44-year-old will officially join the Reds at the end of the season, when he leaves his role as Technical Director with the Cherries. The move will reunite him with Michael Edwards, the new CEO of Football for Liverpool’s owners, FSG.
Edwards worked as Head of Analysis at Portsmouth when Hughes was a player there, from 2003 to 2009, and the duo have remained in close contact ever since.
Hughes made 185 appearances for Bournemouth as a player before joining the club’s recruitment set-up in the summer of 2014. Two years later he was appointed as their Technical Director.
The former Scotland international said: “I am incredibly proud to be offered this opportunity. Liverpool FC is a unique club and I’m grateful to be given a chance to serve it in this capacity.
“People rightly talk about the rich history this organisation can boast, but it is the present and future which really excites me. Jürgen Klopp is leading an outstanding team and squad and alongside that the commitment to young players and their pathway to the first team is also outstanding.
“I am fully aware of the expectations and responsibilities that come with taking this position. It will be my job, working with Michael [Edwards] and leading the football operations team already in place, plus the wider staff at the AXA Training Centre, to make good decisions.
“That’s really what the job entails: you have to make the kind of good decisions which enhance the prospects of having a team that wins and excites the supporters. It is what Liverpool have done well for a very long time and the benefits are there for everyone to see."
Edwards added: “I’m delighted Richard has agreed to join us in this vitally important position. I’ve known him for half of my life in a professional and personal capacity and he is absolutely someone who embodies the best values of Liverpool FC. I trust him completely.
“He has outstanding judgement and a track record of making smart decisions which benefit the organisations he represents. Both Richard and I are aware of the weight of responsibility that comes with working in this capacity for a club such as this.
“The fact he is excited and energised by the challenge ahead is important. It is clear to everyone that Jürgen will leave a legacy to build upon and in Richard we have the right person to make the key decisions and offer the leadership to take us forward into a bright future.
“As one very successful chapter will come to a close for Liverpool in the summer, the objective of everyone here is for another one to begin – and with Richard I am confident we have the right person in position for us to achieve this aim.”
Liverpool have not had a Sporting Director since German Jorg Schmadtke, who had held the role on an interim basis since June 2023, departed at the end of January. Edwards had previously been the club’s Sporting Director for six of his 10 years with the Reds, up to the summer of 2022.
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