Blues have appointed Scott Sellars as their new under-21s head coach.
The former Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers winger replaces Mark Kennedy, who exited the club in February.
Sellars, 60, has vast experience in youth development football, as well at first team level.
He spent five years at Manchester City, joining as under-18s coach and rising to head of academy coaching before leaving in April 2014.
Then it was onto Wolverhampton Wanderers where he coached the under-18s, under-23s and was promoted to head of academy player development and then head of Academy, where he also had responsibility for loan players and scouting.
He left Molineux as technical director in November 2022 after eight years services all told.
Chairman Jeff Shi replaced Sellars, after almost two years as technical director, with Matt Hobbs as part of a restructure in the wake of Julen Lopetegui’s appointment as first team head coach.
Sellars is well known to Academy technical director Mike Rigg through their Manchester City days as well as head of academy coaching Mike Scott, through Scott’s time at Wolves.
His most recent position was as sporting director of Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates, replacing Rigg after he moved to Blues.
His role will be more wide-ranging than simply managing the fortunes of Blues under-21s in PL2.
Blues advertised the position as Senior Pathway to Professional and Under-21s Coach.
Part of the job specification meant that Sellars would be ‘working closely with the Academy Technical Director, Academy Manager, Head of Coaching and Men’s First Team staff, he will provide strategic oversight of the player development programme, ensuring a clear and aligned pathway exists from Academy football through to senior competition’.
Rigg commented that Sellars appointment ‘represents an important step in revolutionising our player development pathway’.
Sellars said he had a desire to get back on the grass and coach again, after high-pressured leadership roles of late.
And with Blues not having given any league minutes to an Academy graduate in the last two seasons under Chris Davies, he was keen to spotlight ways of improving the so-called pathway.
“Training with the first team is a great avenue to look at,” he told Blues+. “We can look at them and see where they’re at. That’s a fantastic opportunity for them to learn, to see really good players, how they train, how they behave and what they eat.
“If we do have an elite player then we have to push, but we also have to understand that Chris’s job is to win three points on a Saturday and his focus will be on that. It’s about building relationships and understanding the position.
“It has to be looked at as a long-term role. Getting players into the first team is what all academies should be judged on really. Trying to recognise who those elite players are and push them through, and try and guide them to the first team, is what I will always judge myself on.”
Sellars playing career spanned 20 years and he made just shy of 550 appearances for eight clubs.
Sellars’ appointment comes at a time when Blues have decided to restructure coaching positions in the Academy.
They are advertising for a lead under-18s coach and a lead under-16s coach – two other critical roles.
Rigg, writing on LinkedIn, said the jobs had become available following ‘some internal movement’.
