Aston Villa backroom staff
We hold the names of 66 people on Aston Villa's staff for 2025/26, beyond the players. Unai Emery manages the first team, with Pablo Villa as assistant manager. Aston Villa's is the 8th longest staff list of the 20 Premier League clubs we hold.
Coaching staff
The manager, the assistants and the coaches at every level of the club, 21 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unai Emery | Manager | First team | 53 | Spain |  |
| Jimmy Shan | Manager | Under-21s | 46 | England |  |
| Richard Beale | Manager | Under-18s | 46 | England |  |
| Pablo Villa | Assistant manager | First team | 49 | Spain | |
| Peter Gilbert | Assistant manager | Under-21s | 41 | Wales | |
| Karl Hooper | Assistant manager | Under-18s | 37 | England |  |
| Jaime Arias | Coach | First team | 25 | Spain |  |
| Pako Ayestarán | Coach | First team | 62 | Spain |  |
| Rodri | Coach | First team | 54 | Spain | |
| Nick Haycock | Coach | Under-21s | 52 | England | - |
| Tony Carss | Coach | Under-21s | 49 | England |  |
| Brad-Lee Miller | Coach | Under-18s | 35 | England |  |
| Jamie Crowther | Coach | Under-18s | 33 | Wales |  |
| Austin MacPhee | Set-piece coach | First team | 45 | Scotland |  |
| Javier García | Goalkeeping coach | First team | 46 | Spain | |
| Mark Naylor | Goalkeeping coach | Under-21s | 40 | England | |
| Michael Pearce | Goalkeeping coach | Under-18s | 30 | England | - |
| Moisés Del Hoyo | Fitness coach | First team | 44 | Spain | |
| Oli Stevenson | Fitness coach | First team | 30 | England | - |
| Patrick Moore | Fitness coach | First team | 33 | Ireland |  |
| Ryan Devlin | Fitness coach | First team | 34 | Ireland |  |
Medical and sports science
Doctors, physios and sports scientists, 13 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Shamji | Chief doctor | Club-wide | 47 | England | - |
| Alan Smith | Head physio | Club-wide | 58 | England | - |
| Rob Marshall | Physio | First team | 51 | New Zealand | - |
| Steven Polley | Physio | First team | 44 | England |  |
| Jazz Sodhi | Physio | Under-21s | 40 | England | |
| Cian McCaffrey | Physio | Under-18s | 40 | Ireland | |
| Jack King | Physio | Under-18s | 24 | England | - |
| Arnaldo Abrantes | Head of sports science | Club-wide | 38 | Portugal |  |
| Aman Singh Shergill | Sports scientist | First team | 29 | England |  |
| Javier Olmo | Sports scientist | First team | 35 | Spain |  |
| Daniel Lothian | Sports scientist | Under-21s | 39 | England | - |
| Callum Reeves | Sports scientist | Under-18s | 35 | England |  |
| Philip Crawley | Sports scientist | Under-18s | 28 | England |  |
Scouting and analysis
Scouts, recruitment analysts and performance analysts, 20 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberto Benito | Chief scout | Club-wide | 53 | Spain |  |
| Aaron Calvin | Scout | Club-wide | 36 | England |  |
| Brian Byrne | Scout | Club-wide | 53 | Ireland | - |
| Bryn Davies | Scout | Club-wide | 36 | England | - |
| John McKenna | Scout | Club-wide | 70 | Scotland | - |
| Matt Dyer | Scout | Club-wide | 44 | England |  |
| Owen Lee | Scout | Club-wide | 32 | England |  |
| Robert Billingsley | Scout | Club-wide | 29 | England | - |
| Ben Hackney | Recruitment analyst | Club-wide | 32 | England |  |
| Naythan Din-Kariuki | Recruitment analyst | Club-wide | 29 | Kenya |  |
| Jeremy Oliver | Head performance analyst | Club-wide | 43 | Australia | - |
| José Romero | Performance analyst | First team | 39 | Spain |  |
| Joseph Ure | Performance analyst | First team | 29 | England | - |
| Pablo Rodríguez | Performance analyst | First team | 50 | Spain | |
| Scott Adey-Linforth | Performance analyst | First team | 30 | England | - |
| Víctor Mañas | Performance analyst | First team | 60 | Spain | |
| Camren Bisal | Performance analyst | Under-21s | 24 | England | - |
| Oliver Griffin | Performance analyst | Under-21s | 30 | England |  |
| Shauna Cunningham | Performance analyst | Under-18s | 24 | - |  |
| Zhu Ziyue | Performance analyst | Under-18s | 22 | China PR | - |
Football management
The people who run the football side, from the sporting director to the academy, 3 people
| NAME | ROLE | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Kidson | Technical director | 44 | England | - |
| Mark Harrison | Head of youth development | 50 | England | |
| Adam Henshall | Loan manager | 32 | England |  |
Owners and directors
Who owns Aston Villa and sits on its board
| NAME | ROLE | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nassef Sawiris | Chair | 64 | Egypt | - |
| Damià Vidagany | Managing director | 55 | Spain | - |
| Bashir Lebada | Director | 41 | Canada | - |
| Chester Hall | Director | 39 | United States | - |
| Francesco Calvo | Director | 47 | Italy |  |
| Michael Angelakis | Director | 61 | United States | - |
| Roberto Olabe | Director | 57 | Spain |  |
| Sarah Watterson | Director | 38 | - | - |
| Wes Edens | Director | 63 | United States | - |
Backroom staff at every Premier League club
The names we hold at each club in the division, 2025/26
Aston Villa's list is the 8th longest of the 20, against a median of 60 across the division. Liverpool names the most, 101. Coventry City names the fewest, 36.
Aston Villa against the Premier League, department by department
Names held in each department, beside the average and the most at any one club
| DEPARTMENT | ASTON VILLA | AVERAGE | MOST | AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coaching | 21 | 18 | 25 |  |
| Medical and sports science | 13 | 14 | 22 |  |
| Scouting and analysis | 20 | 23 | 49 |  |
| Football management | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| Owners and directors | 9 | 7 | 18 |  |
Backrooms the size of Aston Villa's, in every league
Aston Villa's 66 names make the joint 23rd longest staff list of the 815 clubs we hold one for
| # | CLUB | LEAGUE | STAFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 |  | Bundesliga | 71 |
| 15 |  | Serie A | 70 |
| 16 |  | Premier League | 69 |
| 17 | | Serie A | 68 |
| 17 |  | Eredivisie | 68 |
| 17 |  | Serie B | 68 |
| 17 |  | Serie A | 68 |
| 21 |  | Serie B | 67 |
| 21 |  | League One | 67 |
| 23 |  | Saudi Pro League | 66 |
| 23 | | Premier League | 66 |
| 25 |  | Belgian Pro League | 65 |
| 26 |  | Serie A | 64 |
| 26 |  | Serie A | 64 |
| 26 |  | Premier League | 64 |
| 29 |  | Super Liga | 63 |
| 29 |  | Primeira Liga | 63 |
| 31 |  | Serie A | 62 |
| 31 |  | Serie A | 62 |
| 31 |  | Premier League | 62 |
| 31 |  | Serie A | 62 |
Where Aston Villa's staff come from
14 nationalities across the 64 staff whose nationality we hold
England supplies 31 of the 64, 48%. The median age is 40. The oldest is John McKenna, scout, at 70, and the youngest Zhu Ziyue, performance analyst, at 22. 41 members of staff came from another club, most often Villarreal (7).
Where Aston Villa's former staff work now
On Aston Villa's staff in an earlier season and at another club in 2025/26, 27 people
Frequently asked questions
Who is Aston Villa's manager?
Unai Emery is the Aston Villa first-team manager, aged 53. Pablo Villa is the assistant manager.
Who is the goalkeeping coach at Aston Villa?
Javier García coaches the Aston Villa first-team goalkeepers.
Who is Aston Villa's head physio?
Alan Smith is head physio at Aston Villa.
Who is Aston Villa's chief scout?
Alberto Benito is chief scout at Aston Villa.
Who is Aston Villa's technical director?
Matthew Kidson is technical director at Aston Villa.
How many backroom staff do Aston Villa have?
We hold the names of 66 people on Aston Villa's staff for 2025/26: 21 in coaching, 13 in medical and sports science, 20 in scouting and analysis, 3 in football management and 9 owners and directors. That is the 8th longest list of the 20 Premier League clubs we hold, against a median of 60. Across every league we hold, that list is the joint 23rd longest of 815.
Where to next
For what Aston Villa pays its squad, see Aston Villa player wages. The first-team manager has a page of their own: Unai Emery. What each of these jobs pays across football is on backroom staff wages. Every club in the division is on Premier League wages.