Harry Watling
Watling with Hartford Athletic in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-11-28) 28 November 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth London, England
Team information
Current team
 Rangers (First-team coach)
Managerial career
Years Team
2009–2014 Chelsea (academy)
2014–2018 Millwall (academy)
2018–2021 West Ham United (academy)
2021–2022 Hartford Athletic
2022– Rangers (coach)

Harry Watling (born 28 November 1989) is an English football coach who is currently first team coach at Scottish Premiership side Rangers.

Coaching career

Watling earned his UEFA B licence at age 18, UEFA A licence at 26 and his UEFA Pro licence at 33, which at the time made him one of the youngest coaches in England to have such coaching licence’s .[1]

Watling went on to work as an academy coach with Chelsea from 2009 to 2014, Millwall from 2014 to 2018, and West Ham United from 2018, before becoming head coach of USL Championship side Hartford Athletic on 13 January 2021.[2][1]

Watling became the youngest Head coach in US professional soccer at the time of signing his first contract.

After joining Hartford Athletic on 13 January 2021, he won his first match in charge 3–2 against New York Red Bulls II on 30 April 2021. On 6 June 2021 in his fourth match he broke the club record for the biggest ever win in their history when he beat New York Red Bulls II 7–0 at home who had seven MLS contracted players from the first team in the lineup.[3] Watling broke several club records in his first season in charge of The Athletic, including most goals scored in a regular season and most clean sheets. Hartford finished 5th narrowly missing out on the play offs. On 25 June 2022, Watling resigned from his role as Hartford coach to attend family matters back home in England.[4]

On 25 July 2022, Watling was appointed first team coach at Championship side Queens Park Rangers.[5] Watling helped guide the Rs to the top of the Championship before departing for Rangers in late 2022.

On 28 November 2022, Watling joined Michael Beale in moving to Rangers as First team coach.

Personal life

Watling is married to professional footballer and Northern Ireland national team player Ciara Watling who currently plays for Southampton of the FA Women's Championship.[6][7]

Managerial statistics

Managerial record
Team Nat From To Record
P W D L GF GA GD Win %
Hartford Athletic United States 13 January 2021 25 June 2022 48 19 8 21 77 62 +13 39.5%

References

  1. ^ a b McFarland, Shawn (13 January 2021). "Hartford Athletic hires West Ham, Chelsea alum Harry Watling as head coach". courant.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  2. ^ Betz, Adam (12 January 2020). "Watling to coach Hartford Athletic". Journal Inquirer. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  3. ^ Athletic, Hartford (5 June 2021). "RECAP: Hartford Explodes for Seven Goals in Rout of New York Red Bulls II". Hartford Athletic | Connecticut's Professional Soccer Team. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Hartford Athletic Head Coach Harry Watling resigns". 25 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Beale appoints new coach Harry Watling".
  6. ^ Seton O'Connor, Myke & Damon (13 January 2021). "Third Time's the Charm (guest HC Harry Watling)". nutmegstate.libsyn.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 37:05. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Northern Ireland international Ciara Watling joins Charlton Athletic". belfasttelegraph. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
Categories