Barry Simmonds

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Barry Simmonds is an English professional football coach nd former player notable. As a coach he managed New Zealand Knights in the Australian A-League prior to its licence being transferred to new ownership and renamed Wellington Phoenix.^[1] He was the Director of Football Recruitment and on the Executive Board at Norwich City for the Premier League promotion winning 2014–2015 season. He was appointed having held a similar post at Fulham over several years. In 2017 he rejoined Crystal Palace FC. Simmonds had been engaged in previous roles at the London-based Premier League club.^[2]

In the 2013 award-winning book The Nowhere Men author Michael Calvin credited Simmonds with being a leading figure at the forefront of modern football club structure through the combined use of sports science, statistical analysis and traditional practice. Simmonds has cited the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team off-field operating methodology and American statistician Bill James as influences. Revered for his work in Major League Baseball James highlighted how undervalued players could be recruited which Simmonds saw parallels with in professional football.^[3]

Following on from Norwich City it was reported in the British media that he had been contracted by The Football Association to work as a member of England manager Roy Hodgson's staff for the national team's preparation and final tournament of the 2016 UEFA European Championship.^[4]