Tottenham confirm departure of coach

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the departure of Under-18s Coach Matt Taylor, who will now take over at Walsall in the role Head Coach from June 1st.

Taylor joined Tottenham in July 2019 along with the arrival of Ryan Mason and Nigel Gibbs to the Academy coaching team.

Mason and Gibbs have subsequently been promoted to interim first-team duties until the end of the season following the departure of Jose Mourinho and his backroom staff last month after the club found themselves in seventh place in the table and knocked out of the Europa League.

The former Portsmouth and West Ham United player has enjoyed success in his role in North London with a number of his players going on to receive their first-team debuts this season including Dane Scarlett, Alfie Devine and Nile John.

Walsall are currently in League Two and finished this season in nineteenth place in the table, narrowly avoiding relegation.

Academy Manager Dean Rastrick told the official site: “Matt has been first-class during his time with us, combining his tremendous professionalism, integrity and passion for the game with a real desire to help nurture and improve our young players, to the point that several players he has worked with have been able to make their debuts for the first team in the last two seasons. I hope he has enjoyed working with us as much as we have enjoyed working with him and, with the additional coaching experience he now has under his belt, we wish him the very best as he moves into a first team management role, something he has always aspired to do.

“We pride ourselves on producing not only players but also coaches and support staff here in the Academy and in recent years we’ve seen a number of our staff go on to enjoy first team roles both here at Spurs and elsewhere in the game. Matt is our latest success story in that respect and I reiterate that he leaves with our best wishes for the future. We will provide an update on our Academy coaching team for next season in due course.”