Sunderland appoint ex-Newcastle man as new head of performance and medicine

Sunderland have appointed former Newcastle United and Everton man Jamie Harley as the club's new head of performance and medicine. Harley, who began work at the Academy of Light earlier this week, will oversee the Black Cats' performance and medical provision across all levels from the U9s within the academy to the first-team.

He began his career in football working with Middlesbrough in the late 2000s, before moving to Newcastle as first-team sports scientist in 2010 and becoming the club's head of sports science under Rafa Benitez in 2017. After 11 years on Tyneside, Harley moved to Everton in the summer of 2021 to link up with Benitez once again but departed when the Spaniard was sacked in January this year.

Sunderland's sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said: "We are delighted to welcome Jamie to Sunderland AFC as we continue to invest in and improve our footballing infrastructure. He embodies the professional expertise required for this position and has the leadership characteristics required to develop our provision in this area, which is an important part of ensuring we can fully support all of our players for many seasons to come."

Harley fills the vacancy left by the Australian Andrew Young, who was only confirmed as head of performance and medicine in January before leaving in short order.