Birmingham City allure strikes again as they snare another addition from rivals

Tom Huddlestone has joined Blues' coaching staff
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Birmingham City have moved to replace the outgoing Ashley Cole with Derby County, Hull City and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tom Huddlestone - two months after he joined League One rivals Wigan Athletic.

Huddlestone had a decorated playing career with Hull, Derby and Spurs, while he also had a loan spell with Wolves and ended his career at Manchester United, where he coupled his commitments in playing in the under 21s with mentoring and coaching the club's young players, a role Jay Spearing has similarly held at Liverpool.

The 37-year-old, from Nottingham, only joined Wigan in July after leaving United to work under Shaun Maloney. He was joined by another coach in Shadab Iftikhar. Only last month, he was appointed onto the interim coaching staff of Ben Futcher, who is currently managing the England under 21s while the FA decide on the future of Lee Carsley.

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Chris Davies has moved to bring Huddlestone to Blues to work alongside Ben Petty and Nathan Gardiner, as well as Jonathan Grounds, who had been promoted after Cole's departure to the England set-up on a permanent basis was confirmed last week.

“Tom is an excellent coach and a great addition to our first team staff as we look to build on our start to the 2024/25 season," Davies said. “He has vast playing experience, which has been added to by coaching roles he has held with both club and international teams.

"This will provide a different dynamic to the group and I expect the squad to feed off his knowledge of the game. We are all looking forward to working with him and wish him every success at Birmingham City.”

Huddlestone scored 27 goals in 585 senior appearances in a decorated career. He also earned four senior England caps and won the League Cup with Tottenham in 2008, as well as helping Hull win promotion via the play-offs under Steve Bruce in 2016.

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