Former Celtic and Scotland star to be named Hamilton Accies' new U18s coach

Hamilton Accies have pulled off an impressive appointment by bringing in former Celtic star and ex-Scotland international Charlie Mulgrew as their new Under-18s coach.

The Scottish Championship side have been in talks with the former Hoops defender in recent weeks about taking on a role in their youth setup, as part of a restructuring at Accies which has seen Elite Academy chief George Cairns depart after 18 years. Cairns was replaced by former Motherwell manager and ex-Fir Park youth chief Gordon Young yesterday.

Now, Lanarkshire Live Sport understands that Mulgrew, who earned 44 caps for his country, will be appointed today and put in charge of overseeing the club's U18 Elite Youth Academy team. He will replace Sean Crighton, who announced his exit from the post yesterday.

Mulgrew brings a wealth of experience to the South Lanarkshire club having made over 150 appearances for Celtic and played at the highest level in Europe, competing in the Champions League. He won five Premiership titles and two Scottish Cup while at the Hoops and also had top flight spells with Aberdeen and Dundee United, as well as playing in the English Championship with Blackburn and Wigan.

The 38-year-old is expected to be unveiled today as part of owner Seref Zengin's vision to freshen up the club across its highly respected youth academy.

Hamilton's under-18s won the Club Academy Scotland Elite Under-18 league in 2023 and they competed in the UEFA Youth League last season. Four of the players our who helped the club achieve that title have moved on to bigger clubs with Ryan One and Cormac Daly moving to Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest, respectively, while Gabe Forsyth and Josh McDonald joined Championship sides Norwich City and Leeds United.

Sean Crighton announced his departure from the role Mulgew will take on yesterday in a post on social media. It read: "Sadly my time at Hamilton Accies has come to an end. I want to say a massive thank you to all the coaches, players and staff I have worked with in my time at the club.

"A special thanks to George Cairns who, of course, brought me into the club and gave me the opportunity to coach in the Academy and with the Under-18 teams over the last few years.

"As a team, we have collectively achieved a lot of successes, but most importantly seeing the young players develop and securing positions within the first team and beyond is something we should be very proud of. I wish them all the best in the future."

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