The Club is pleased to announce that, with Steve Wigley recently becoming our Academy Technical Director, Hayden Mullins will take over as Under-21s Head Coach.
Also, at Under-16s level, Joe Antonelli has joined the club to become Head Coach after a spell at Crystal Palace.
Mullins began his career at Crystal Palace, the club he'd go on to make an impressive 222 appearances for in the top two tiers of English football. The defensive-midfielder then went on to make over 100 appearances for West Ham United and Portsmouth before shorter stints at Reading, Birmingham City and Notts County.
After a successful playing career, Mullins turned his attention to management and spent four years as Watford's Under-21 Head Coach. He also became the First Team interim boss on two occasions before leaving to take up a role as Colchester United's Assistant under Steve Ball.
He soon landed the job on a permanent basis, having impressed while in interim charge in the final weeks of the 2020-21 League Two season. A difficult run led to his dismissal in January 2022 before he went on to do some coaching at Woking Football Club.
Mullins most recently picked up some experience coaching on the international scene with Turks and Caicos Islands.
Academy Director Sean Cullen is pleased with the new appointment: "We are delighted that Hayden has joined the Academy as Under-21s Head Coach. He brings with him experience as a player, coach and manager that will further compliment our programme. Hayden’s track record as a youth developer is second to none, and we believe he will support our players achieve their individual potential, whilst also ensuring our Under-21s are competitive."
Technical Director Steve Wigley added: "Hayden brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience. We interviewed a lot of outstanding candidates for the job and he came out on top, so I was delighted when he accepted and I'm sure he'll add to our Academy and help develop our players."
