Former Preston North End boss is Hearts' new academy director

Former Hamilton Accies coach Frankie McAvoy has been appointed the new academy director at Heart of Midlothian.

The 54-year-old, who is responsible for helping bring through the likes of James McCarthy and James McArthur at Accies, arrives at Tynecastle having had a spell in charge of English Championship side Preston North End last year.

McAvoy replaced fellow ex-Accies man Alex Neil as interim boss at The Lilywhites before being named permanent manager in May last year. However, he was sacked in December 2021 after a poor run of results for the Deepdale sale.

He previously worked with Neil at Norwich City in the English Premier League, having helped the club win promotion from the Championship.

The duo, of course, were a huge success at Hamilton Accies, when they took the club top of the Premiership for a breif spell in the 2014/15 season.

And Bellshill man McAvoy is now back in the Scottish game with the Jambos.

A statement from Hearts confirmed the appointment, with their sporting director Joe Savage commenting: “This isn’t an appointment we wanted to rush and in Frankie we have got the right person for what is a very important job.

“I’m lucky enough to have known Frankie for a while, having worked with him both in Scotland and England, and he is a top operator with so much high-level experience.

“He ticks every box, having coached at youth level and helping to get young talent into the first team with Hamilton Accies, right the way through to coaching in the Premier League and managing in the Championship.

“There will no doubt be a few new challenges for him in this role but I’ve no doubt he will excel in it.

"It’s an exciting time for this club as we continue to put all the building blocks in place for sustained