Aberdeen’s hierarchy are confident they will attract strong candidates in their bid to replace departed youth academy director Gavin Levey – with head of academy coaching Stuart Glennie taking the reins in the interim.
Academy boss Levey departed the Dons at the weekend after 17 years with the club, and is set to join English Championship outfit Swansea City in the same role.
Joining the Reds in 2006, initially as a community coach following spells at Dundee United and Ross County, Levey went on to helm Aberdeen’s junior academy, before ascending to the role of head of academy coaching and then academy director as part of a restructuring of the Dons’ development arm in the summer of 2021.
Current first-team stars Connor Barron, Jack MacKenzie and Ryan Duncan, as well as multi-million-pound Scotland internationals Scott McKenna and Calvin Ramsay, came through the academy during Levey’s tenure.
The Reds thanked him for his “immeasurable contributions” – which included taking charge of Aberdeen Women on a temporary basis in the second half of last season – in a social media post.
Aberdeen chiefs are hunting a like-for-like replacement to slot into Levey’s vacated role at Cormack Park, and are confident the job overseeing all of their youth sides, as well as the women’s team, will be an attractive proposition to prospective candidates.
They have advertised the post and hope to start interviews for Levey’s replacement soon.
In the meantime, Stuart Glennie – who recently returned to Aberdeen from the SFA as head of academy coaching – will lead the youth academy’s work.
Glennie previously ran the SFA performance school programme at Hazlehead Academy.
He will be supported by Gothenburg Great Neil Simpson, who was the head of the Dons’ academy for several years, before moving into his current pathways manager job – overseeing youth academy graduates’ loans and route to the Reds first-team – in the 2021 reshuffle.
Levey’s time at Aberdeen ended on a high.
On Sunday, Aberdeen’s under-14s beat youth sides from the likes of Manchester United to claim the inaugural Craig Brown Memorial Trophy, which has been created in tribute to the former Dons and Scotland boss, who died earlier this year.
The young Reds team defeated Rangers 3-0 in the final at Cormack Park.
What a way to finish the weekend!
The Craig Brown Memorial Trophy was a huge success. This was never in doubt with the staff that we had hosting the first ever tournament at Cormack Park.
The young @AberdeenFC side winning it was an absolute bonus! pic.twitter.com/An2zXip9EL
— Gavin Levey (@GavLevey) October 15, 2023
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