Former Derby County Academy Director, Darren Wassall, has been appointed as the English Football League’s Head of Youth Development.

After over a decade working with the Rams, the 55-year-old – who played for several EFL Clubs across his 21-year playing career – takes up a new role at the EFL.

“All the experiences I’ve had at Derby will stand me in good stead for this role,” he explains. “It’s about trying to help the rest of the 72 EFL Academy Managers and Clubs to continue their brilliant work and to keep improving standards for the next generation of players.

“It is an exciting role and after only leaving Derby in May, it was almost perfect timing for this new challenge.”

He succeeds former Bradford City and Leeds United defender David Wetherall who held the position at the EFL for the last 12 years.

“Dave has done an unbelievable job over the last 12 years in leading the Youth Development department at the EFL,” he says. “I hope to continue the commitment and hard work that he put into the role.”

Wassall started his career at First Division side Nottingham Forest, under the tutelage of Brian Clough, where he rose through the ranks to make his senior debut for the Tricky Trees. After 8 years at the Club, which included loan spells with Hereford United and Bury, he played his last game for Forest in the League Cup Final of 1992 v Manchester United before the former defender made the switch to Derby County that summer.

He went on to play for Manchester City and Birmingham City in temporary spells, before making his Blues move a permanent agreement in 1997. After suffering a ruptured achilles injury whilst playing for Birmingham, Wassall was forced to retire from the professional game at the age of 32 but went on to join non-league outfit Burton Albion helping them achieve promotion to the National League, where he eventually hung up his boots in 2005.

“I’ve had a wide variety of playing experiences,” he says. “I’ve played with and been managed by some unbelievable players and managers over the years and gained great experience in terms of knowing what is required at the top level to become a professional footballer.

“All those experiences both good and bad, have been invaluable in my role as a youth developer, in helping the next generation of players maximise their potential. I loved my playing career and as soon as I finished, I went into coaching, and I’ve done that ever since. Football has been my life. Since I was 16 and joined Nottingham Forest as a scholar, that’s all I’ve known and wanted to do!”

After hanging up his boots, he made the transition to oversee the Brewers’ newly formed youth setup, working closely with Nigel Clough, as he has done many times in his career both as a player and coach.

In April 2009, his next role saw him remain in the East Midlands to take up the position as Academy Manager at one of his former teams Derby County – the Club where Wassall made over 100 appearances, winning promotion to the top-flight.

Wassall – who has previously taken charge of first-team affairs on an interim basis at Derby – spent 14 years with the Rams, stepping up to Academy Director in 2015.

“I’ve been in youth football for nearly 25 years,” he continues. “My whole professional coaching and management career has been dedicated to youth development. I am passionate about working with young players and young people, creating opportunities for them in football and in life. I have always maintained as a young person; all you can ask for is an opportunity. It is our job to make that happen.

“Ultimately the players are the ones that do the hard work, and it is our job to give them a platform to succeed and thrive. Starting even at Burton Albion, John Brayford came through our youth team and went on to play for Derby and Cardiff and is now back at Burton as their captain.

“At Derby, we had the likes of Will Hughes, Jeff Hendrick, Max Bird, Louie Sibley, and Jason Knight – you could keep going. There were some talented young footballers that we were fortunate enough to have in our care. We played our part in developing them as both people and as players.

When I left in May due to the Club wanting to re structure and go in a different direction, we had just gained another licence for Category One status for the next three seasons, for the fourth successive time. I’m proud of everything that we achieved at Derby. I was fortunate enough to have great staff within the Academy, who all massively contributed to its success.”

Now, he takes on a new challenge at the EFL where he will use his knowledge and experiences to assist the 72 EFL Clubs across the three divisions.

“The EFL Clubs are doing a great job in creating pathways for young players in Academies to go through into the first team,” he emphasises. “I want to keep encouraging that and making sure that we keep improving that tally year-on-year.

We also need to make sure that every young person in our care, is better for the experience of being in our Academies, both as a player and a person.

“We’re always looking for improvement. We’ll be working together with all the Academies to make sure that every Academy under our banner is successful and highly thought of. I am working with a lot of talented people in the game from EFL to Premier League. We are in a healthy state, and we want to maintain that and keep improving that as we go along.”