Wolves have appointed Gary O’Neil as the club’s new head coach ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
The highly regarded young coach moves to Molineux on a three-year-deal on the back of a successful season in charge of AFC Bournemouth, where he gained plaudits for improving performances and maintaining the club’s Premier League status.
At 40 years of age, O’Neil becomes the Wolves’ youngest manager this Millennium and is the first permanent British coach to lead the club in six years, bringing Premier League experience after playing and managing at this level.
Having made more than 200 Premier League appearances as a midfielder for the likes of Portsmouth and West Ham United, O’Neil first stepped into coaching with Liverpool’s under-23s in 2020, before joining the staff at Bournemouth in 2021.
After playing his part in the club’s promotion under Scott Parker, O’Neil stepped into the managerial hot-seat four games into the new campaign, following a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool.
Bringing with him new ideas and uniting the squad, he got the Cherries’ season back on track before being handed the job on a permanent basis in November.
His positive start continued at the Vitality Stadium throughout the remainder of the campaign, with the Cherries comfortably avoiding relegation, beating Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur along the way.
O’Neil left Bournemouth at the end of the season and now takes the head coach role at Wolves, where he inherits an exciting group of players ready for the new Premier League campaign, which begins away at Manchester United on Monday evening.
Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “We’re delighted to welcome Gary to the club. He’s a highly motivated young coach with strong principles and very well thought of by everyone he has worked with, and we’re excited to see what we can achieve together at Wolves.
“Our players have shown their quality during pre-season, and I believe Gary and his team will continue to coach and improve them and will have success working with this group.
“Everyone at Wolves is looking forward to welcoming Gary, offering him their full support and working collaboratively to help the club to keep pushing forward together.”
