Walsall have confirmed that Martyn Bowles has been appointed as the club's new Academy Manager, replacing Rob Williams, who recently announced his intention to leave the club.Bowles has been part of the Academy setup since June 2024 as Head of Coaching, looking at coach and player development and overseeing various projects such as the CPD and MDT programmes, and has been a great aid in continuing the good work within the Academy.
Prior to his arrival at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium, Bowles was based in Wales, where he completed his masters degree in sports coaching and progressed into university lecturing before working with the Wales Schoolboys national team during his stint in semi-pro football.
Speaking via the club's official website, Bowles admitted he is thankful to be given the opportunity to head up the Academy and is eager to get started, he said: "I’m really overjoyed to get the role.
"It’s obviously come a little bit sooner than expected, having been at the club for just over a year, but I’m delighted and grateful to Ben and the hierarchy at the club for putting their trust in me and seeing me as the one to take on the role of Academy Manager.
"We’re in a really good place at the moment and for me, I think it just needs the next set of fresh eyes.
"I’ll be honest, I’m not going to change masses – there’s a clear strategy of how the Academy runs in terms of playing/coaching philosophy that’s aligned to the first team and I want to make sure we continue doing that.
"We got a great team of staff that will help me drive that and over time I’ll make sure we strive to work really hard, play hard but achieve great success and that’s what we will aim to deliver."
Ahead of his new challenge, Bowles also paid tribute to Williams for whom he has built a positive relationship with and wishes him well in his next adventure, he continued: "Rob has been a mentor to me personally and on behalf of all of us in the Academy I want to say how grateful we are to him.
"As is regularly the case at category 3 status Academies, it’s often your first job in football and Rob’s given us that opportunity and without that loyalty and trust that he’s shown I wouldn’t be where I am now.
"Rob is going onto fantastic pastures new, but I know we’ll stay in contact, he has a lot of love for Walsall having done two stints here.
"He’s done great things, and we’re very grateful for what he’s done for the Academy and I aim to carry on that good work."
Chief Executive Ben Sadler is pleased to appoint Bowles into the role and looks forward to the next phase under his leadership, he said: "Martyn has proven himself to be a positive, values driven leader in his time at the club so far.
"He has excelled in his role as Head of Coaching, developing strong relationships within the Academy, across the club more generally as well as in the wider community.
"It is vitally important that we continue to build on the excellent work that has taken place over a number of years now within our Academy.
We have developed a strong alignment right throughout the Academy into the Men’s First Team – and we feel that Martyn is the right person to lead the next phase of this work, along with our talented and committed Academy Management Team, as we look forwards to the future with continued optimism and excitement."
Main image: Copyright Walsall FC.