We’re delighted to announce that our Academy have appointed Simon Clark as the new Under-18s coach.
With vast experience as a player and a coach, Academy Manager Michael Hamilton (pictured left with Simon in the above photo) believes that his appointment will help to build on the success of our youth system in recent years.
Simon, who recently completed the FA Advanced Youth Award, is in in the process of gaining his UEFA Pro Licence after coaching spells with the academies of Peterborough United, Watford and Notts County.
This followed a playing career that involved over 300 league appearances, including spells with Peterborough, Leyton Orient and Colchester United.
Speaking after his appointment, Simon said: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining AFC Wimbledon - home of a high performing, high achieving academy, and I look forward to working with the staff to make sure this continues. The Club has gone through massive changes in recent years, and is in a great place to kick on and thrive. I feel very privileged to be a part of that.”
Michael Hamilton added: “We met and spoke to several high quality candidates and Simon stood out, every step of the process – I am delighted to welcome him to our academy.
“We wanted someone who had a genuine passion for youth development with experience of the development pathway, including the transition from youth to senior football, with notable success as a coach. We also wanted someone who wasn’t only going to just develop our players, but who could also make a genuine impact on the evolution of our development programme as a whole.
“It says a lot about our profile as an academy to be able to appoint someone with Simon’s calibre and already in the short amount of time he has been here, his quality has been in evidence.”
All at AFC Wimbledon welcome Simon to the Club and we wish him every success in his role.