England men's coaching teams confirmed

Lee Carsley will be assisted by Three Lions legend Ashley Cole during his interim spell in charge of England senior men.

Cole’s former England colleague Joleon Lescott will also join Carsley’s temporary backroom team alongside Tim Dittmer, the FA’s head of coaching.

The trio have worked alongside Carsley with the MU21s and were part of the 2023 U21 EURO-winning squad.

September sees England start their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League B2 campaign as they travel to Republic of Ireland on Saturday 7 September (5pm KO) before the EURO finalists host Finland at Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Tuesday 10 September (7.45pm KO) with tickets available to purchase here.

Cole, a first-team coach at Birmingham City, is one of only nine men to achieve 100 caps at senior level for England and chalked up five major tournaments as his nation’s sixth most-capped male. Lescott made 26 senior appearances between 2007 and 2013 including being part of the squad at UEFA EURO 2012.

Dittmer has been with the FA for more than a decade and, having been a national goalkeeping coach most notably with the MU21s during that period, he was promoted to head of coaching across all men’s development teams in 2021.

Elsewhere, senior men’s performance analysts Stephen O’Brien and Michael Baker have been seconded by technical director John McDermott to focus on strategic projects in preparation for the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate, with 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying to immediately follow this autumn's UEFA Nations League matches.

Both Stephen and Michael have been a mainstay of the senior set up with their influential work behind the scenes a key factor in England’s recent run to major finals. As a result, performance analyst James Ryder will step across to work with the new set-up.

Goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson departs the FA after eight years. During that period, Margetson played a pivotal role in England’s historic run of tournament results including two European Championship finals and a FIFA World Cup semi-final.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink also moves on as England coach after 17 months working with the national team in the run up to and during UEFA EURO 2024. The FA would like to place on record thanks to Martyn and Jimmy for their valuable service to the senior men’s team.

Meanwhile, Paul Nevin will remain at the FA by taking charge of England’s Elite League Squad (ELS) on an interim basis. Nevin initially joined Southgate’s coaching staff between 2018 and 2019 before returning in 2021 to go on and work at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2024.

The former West Ham United coach will be assisted by Kevin Nolan, Chris Lock and Neil Cutler (GK).

This follows incumbent ELS head coach Ben Futcher’s move to take interim charge of the MU21s. Futcher will be supported by former England international Tom Huddlestone alongside Paul Williams and Sam Meek (GK).

The recruitment of Charlton Athletic U21s’ Lock and Wigan Athletic first-team coach Huddlestone form part of five appointments under the FA and PFA’s England Elite Coach Programme (EECP).

Ex-England striker Darius Vassell continues his work from last season by assisting the MU18s alongside his duties at Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Blackburn Rovers Academy’s Matthew Hill will support the MU16s and Sheffield United Academy’s Fahd Saleh will work across the goalkeeping department.

The EECP was introduced by the FA and the PFA in 2017 to create opportunities for coaches from historically under-represented groups to work with the England national teams to gain international coaching experience at the highest levels of English football. The programme aims to build a bigger and more diverse coaching talent pipeline for the future.

The coaching structure for all men’s development teams ahead of the 2024-25 season can now be confirmed as follows:

MU21s
Interim head coach: Ben Futcher
Assisted by Paul Williams, Tom Huddlestone and Sam Meek (GK)

Elite League Squad
Interim head coach: Paul Nevin
Assisted by Kevin Nolan, Chris Lock and Neil Cutler (GK)

MU19s
Head coach: Will Antwi
Assisted by Andy Edwards, Paul Harsley and Adrian Tucker (GK)

MU18s
Head coach: Liam Bramley
Assisted by Stuart Delaney, Darius Vassell and Anthony White (GK)

MU17s
Head coach: Neil Ryan
Assisted by Tom Curtis, Matt Thorpe and Matt Doyle (GK)

MU16s
Head coach: Greg Lincoln
Assisted by Andy Edwards and Matthew Hill*

MU15s
Head coach: Tom Curtis (also Youth Development Phase Lead)
Assisted by Matt Thorpe and Ben Futcher*

*Sam Meek, Anthony White, Adrian Tucker, Matt Doyle and Fahd Saleh all to support as goalkeeping coaches across MU15s and MU16s.