The Crystal Palace coaching staff boasts a host of experts beside manager Roy Hodgson in the dugout at Selhurst Park. So, who makes the Eagles’ backroom team in south London for the 2023/24 season?
Manager: Roy Hodgson
Crystal Palace confirmed in July 2023 that Hodgson had signed a one-year contract to remain their manager. The veteran boss had returned to Selhurst Park in March 2023 to replace his replacement, Patrick Vieira, in charge. Hodgson had left the Eagles after four seasons in 2021 to consider retiring.
Hodgson enjoyed a heroic first spell at Crystal Palace and set the Eagles’ joint-record Premier League points total in 2018/19 with 49. So, Crystal Palace’s owners sought his return to replace Vieira after enduring an 11-match winless run. Hodgson would guide the Eagles to safety with five wins from 10.
Crystal Palace coaching staff
Assistant manager: Paddy McCarthy
Paddy McCarthy joined the Crystal Palace first-team coaching staff in March 2023 to be Hodgson’s assistant manager. The Eagles promoted the Dublin native into their senior set-up as a reward for his work with Crystal Palace’s academy. McCarthy first moved into coaching with the club’s Under-18s.
Crystal Palace first awarded McCarthy a position as a youth coach before naming him as their U21s head coach in 2021. The UEFA A licence holder also spent a game in charge of the Eagles’ first-team following Vieira’s departure. He stepped in to oversee their 4-1 loss away to Arsenal in March 2023.
His move into the Selhurst Park dugout also followed a spell on the Selhurst Park pitch for McCarthy. Crystal Palace signed the defender from Charlton Athletic in 2008 after early spells with Manchester City and Leicester City. McCarthy would retire with the Eagles in 2016 after a number of loan moves.
First-team coach: Ray Lewington
Ray Lewington returned to the coaching staff at Crystal Palace in March 2023 as Hodgson succeeded Vieira in charge. The London native had worked for the Eagles under Hodgson from 2017 to 2021. He is a long-term associate of Hodgson, having first linked with the veteran tactician in December 2007.
Hodgson first hired Lewington as a coach with Fulham and would reach the Europa League final with the Cottagers together. While Lewington later reunited with Hodgson in the England national team’s coaching staff from 2012 to 2016. They also worked together at Watford for five months during 2022.
Goalkeeping coach: Dean Kiely
Crystal Palace kept Dean Kiely on as the club’s goalkeeping coach when Hodgson named his coaching staff in March 2023. The Salford-born former Republic of Ireland international first joined the Eagles’ backroom team in January 2018. Hodgson lured the coach away from Preston North End at the time.
Kiely first moved into coaching with West Bromwich Albion in 2011 after the Baggies elected against extending his playing contract. He remained at the Hawthorns until 2015 when Tony Pulis took over and joined Norwich City’s coaching staff. Preston coaxed Kiely to Deepdale in 2017 for four months.
Head strength and conditioning coach: Jamie Goldsmith
Jamie Goldsmith is Crystal Palace’s head strength and conditioning coach after earning a senior role since his arrival in 2018. The Eagles initially hired the Chelmsford native following his spell as a first-team strength and conditioning coach at Notts County. He only spent five months with the Magpies.
West Ham United afforded Goldsmith his first role in football in 2010 as a sports science plus strength and conditioning assistant. He spent four years with the Irons before joining Charlton and holding an array of academy positions through until 2017. The physician joined Hull City in 2017 for 10 months.
Goldsmith gained a master’s degree in strength and conditioning from the University of East London in 2014. He furthered his studies after securing a first-class bachelor’s degree at the school during 2013.
First-team rehabilitation coach: Harry Bearman
Crystal Palace first hired Harry Bearman to their coaching staff in September 2019. He later became the Eagles’ first-team rehabilitation coach in September 2021. Selhurst Park chiefs opted to promote Bearman following two years as the south London club’s first-team strength and conditioning coach.
Bearman moved to south London in September 2019 to continue his career in football after previous jobs at Millwall and Charlton Athletic. He also worked at the Bromley Tennis Academy LTA Accredited High Performance Centre from April 2014 until May 2015 before embarking on his career in football.
The University of Bolton also hired Bearman between November 2012 and April 2014 – finally as its women’s badminton team’s strength and conditioning coach. He got the job after getting a bachelor’s degree whilst at the university before then earning his master’s at St Mary’s University, Twickenham.
Head of performance and recruitment analysis: Ben Stevens
Ben Stevens has held the role of head of performance and recruitment analysis with Crystal Palace’s coaching staff since June 2018. The Eagles promoted him to the position after three years as their head of performance analysis. It also even marked a return to the Selhurst Park natives for Stevens.
Newcastle United tempted Stevens away from Selhurst Park in January 2011 after six months as the Eagles’ first-team performance analyst. He took a similar role at St James’ Park before becoming their head of performance analysis. He got the second role in December 2012 through until January 2015.
Southampton also employed Stevens before he first joined the coaching staff at Crystal Palace. The Saints gave the analyst his first job in football after earning a bachelor’s degree in football studies at Solent University in 2007. Stevens would also later earn his master’s in sports directorship in 2022.
Stevens oversees a small team of analysts at Selhurst Park, as well. Crystal Palace promoted Thomas Johnson to their first-team set-up in April 2019 after holding a role within the club’s academy since March 2017. While Kieran Dowler first joined from Tottenham Hotspur’s coaching staff in July 2021.
Lead opposition scout: Michael MacNeill
Crystal Palace employed Michael MacNeill as their lead opposition scout in December 2017. He has continued to hold the role at Selhurst Park ever since in a storied career in football that started back in December 1993. Huddersfield Town hired MacNeill as their chief London and the South East scout.
MacNeill has also held scouting roles with Plymouth Argyle, Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic, Southend United and Southampton. Crystal Palace even employed him as a scout from 2010 to 2014. He would later return to Huddersfield in September 2014 until July 2016 when he moved to Rotherham United.
MacNeill has also worked with Islington and Camden Schools Football Association, Islington Primary School’s Football Association, Islington Council, Inner London Schools Football Association, Islington Borough FC and Islington Borough Ladies FC. He has been the secretary or the chairman with some.