Exclusive: Ex-Bristol City and Southampton youth coach leading candidate for Bristol Rovers role

Former Bristol City academy coach David Horseman is a leading candidate to join Bristol Rovers as a first-team coach, Bristol Live understands, having spent a total of 10 years in BS3.

A hugely respected coach, the Bristolian served two separate spells at City with the first lasting eight years during which he was assistant academy manager, an under-18s coach, lead youth development phase coach and head of coaching. The 40-year-old then spent just under three years in the academy set up at Watford before returning to his home city in 2017 to become head of coaching, a role which he took up for two years.

Over the course of 10 years at City, Horseman worked with the likes of Bobby Reid, Joe Bryan, Antoine Semenyo who went to go on to play in the Premier League as well as now-Robins regulars Tommy Conway, Sam Bell, Zak Vyner, Max O'Leary and Cam Pring.

Horseman then swapped Bristol for the south coast in 2019, becoming head coach of Southampton's Under-21s. A highly-regarded coach for helping develop young talent, the Bristolian spent four years on the south coast and also experienced a couple of months as a first-team assistant coach towards the end of the Saints' most recent Premier League campaign.

That saw Horseman work with the likes of Saints regular and Ireland international Will Smallbone and current Gas goalkeeper Matt Hall to name a few.

More recently, the 40-year-old experienced his senior managerial bow, becoming head coach at Forest Green Rovers last July. However, he was dismissed just before Christmas with the Gloucestershire outfit struggling in League Two, form that couldn't pick up as they suffered a second successive relegation into the National League. Although, the 40-year-old is one of five permanent managers that have been appointed since Rob Edwards' departure in May 2022. Since April, he has been working with the FA as a Youth Coach Developer.

With Horseman still based in Bristol, the appointment would make complete sense as Matt Taylor constructs a new-look coaching staff. The start of pre-season is rapidly approaching with players expected back at The Quarters on July 1 and Rovers have seen assistant manager Jamie McAllister, coach Kevin Bond and goalkeeping coach Anssi Jaakkola depart over the course of the off-season. Rovers also advertised for a new first-team coach earlier this month.

The general expectation is that Wayne Carlisle will be made the Gas' new assistant to Taylor with the pair working together in the same capacity at Exeter City and Rotherham United while a new goalkeeping coach and seemingly at least two first-team coaches will have to be appointed to fill in the gaps.

Horseman was spotted at the Mem last season, although that is merely coincidental with Michael Duff also in attendance at a match while out of work in order to keep an eye in on the game.

According to his LinkedIn profile, the Rovers candidate holds a UEFA Pro Licence alongside a number of other coaching qualifications and 15 years of experience working within professional academies. His passion for developing youth fits the bill of what the Gas are trying to strive towards with recruiting young players with high potential that can be nurtured and developed a priority.