Bradford City are delighted to announce Michael Collins, Greg Abbott and Martin Drury will undertake first-team coaching duties with immediate effect.
Former under-18’s manager Michael Collins will assume the role of Head Coach, with Greg and Martin both joining the first-team staff as Assistant Coaches.
With over 300 league appearances under his belt, the former Republic of Ireland U21 International has represented Huddersfield Town, Scunthorpe United, AFC Wimbledon, Oxford United, York City, Leyton Orient and Indian Super League side Bengaluru over the course of his career.
Michael believes his transition from player to coach has been a lengthy one, and he now feels fully prepared to take on the most senior coaching position at City. The 32-year old commented:
“I’ve been working towards this for a lot of years now. Even when I was playing at Oxford I was coaching locally, and when I was at Leyton Orient I’d be in at Spurs’ training ground as often as I could.
“I’m honoured that Edin and Stefan have entrusted me with the Head Coach role, but we truly are a team here and I can’t stress that enough. Martin is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with and Greg’s experience is invaluable for us both.”
“We’ve all been fortunate enough to have had the chance to observe the previous managers at the club and we’ve seen first-hand the way that they worked. We can take a lot of positives from what we’ve seen over the last two years.”
“It also helps that Greg, Martin and I all know the training ground set-up very well too, so there won’t be any surprises when we get started for pre-season”
“Ultimately, for the club to be successful we all need to pull in the same direction. That goes for the owners, the coaching team, the players, and the fans. If we are going to give ourselves a chance of achieving something special here, we all need to be together, on and off the pitch”
“As a coaching team, we all fully appreciate that we will ultimately be judged on our ability in our roles and in line with the clubs’ objectives. There will also be a period of time during which we have to earn the respect of everyone at the football club, especially that of the City fans”
City Co-Owner Edin Rahic believes the composition of the coaching team will be key to any future success, he commented:
“Michael and Martin are both talented British coaches, who posses a lot of potential. Together with Greg’s experience we have a very good blend in the coaching team”
“All three of them really understand the club, share our vision and believe in what we’re trying to achieve”
Contrary to reports, Edin confirmed that no other interviewees received a contract offer to become our Head Coach, despite the owners speaking to many prospective candidates. He continued:
“We respect everyone who applied for the role and were encouraged by the calibre of those who showed an interest in the position. We have interviewed a lot of coaches over the past few weeks, all with different ideas and approaches.”
“However, as the process developed we didn’t find anyone who we felt had a greater connection to, or a better understanding of Bradford City.”
“Over the past few weeks, Greg, Michael, and Martin have also been actively involved in our player recruitment.
“During this time, it became increasingly clear to me that all three have a very good understanding of our players, both of their qualities as footballers and of their characters.”
“We are convinced that to build something over a longer-term, we need stability, with the right people in key positions. Therefore, we have placed our faith in Michael, Greg, and Martin, who have each committed to a three-year contract.”
Everyone at Bradford City would like to welcome Michael, Greg, and Martin to their new roles.
Talk to us about sponsorship!
If you would like to know about the sponsorship opportunities available with our first-team coaching staff, please contact commercial@bradfordcityfc.co.uk or call 01274 773355