Shelley Kerr has officially been appointed as Heart of Midlothian's new technical development manager.
The former Scotland Women's team head coach has been appointed to the position with the aim of developing players and coaches across the male academy set-up at the club.
Kerr's main aim will be to improve the pathway between the academy to the first team. As part of her remit, she will also assist new B Team head coach Angus Beith.
She comes into the role after a period with the English FA where she worked as technical lead and head of women’s development teams. Part of her oversight was the implementation and development of the How We Play strategy for the women’s game.
Kerr said: “Firstly, I would like to thank Graeme, the football department and the board at Heart of Midlothian for the opportunity to work in such an important role at the club.
“I am fortunate to have undertaken a variety of leadership roles across men’s and women’s football since I retired as a player and I am excited to bring the accumulation of that knowledge and experience to Heart of Midlothian”
Sporting director Graeme Jones added: “Shelley’s extensive experience and skill set is ideally suited to this new role at the club and I look forward to working with her to harness the development pathway leading to the first team.
“She will support Angus from a coaching perspective with the B Team but her remit will be far more wide-ranging, from 18s through to B Team.
“She will have an overview of the talent pipeline – of coaches as well as players – but fundamentally the job of technical development manager is to make the route towards the first team clearer for those on the journey.
“As well as her coaching experience and UEFA Pro Licence, what made Shelley stand out was the work undertaken with the English FA in taking the principle of a high-performance environment and implementing key physical, tactical and technical strategies and objectives.”
