Aston Villa set to announce new staff member after West Brom exit is confirmed – report
Aston Villa are set to announce the appointment of Stephen Hopcroft after the head of academy recruitment confirmed his exit from West Brom, according to the Birmingham Mail.
Hopcroft took to his personal Twitter account on Thursday to announce that he was ending his 14-year association with the Black Country club.
He said: “After 14 years at West Brom, I finally say goodbye. Loved every minute. Met and worked with some excellent people. I’d like to thank young players & parents for choosing West Brom but mostly to our team of dedicated academy scouts. They are the secret to our success. It has been my pleasure guys.”
Hopcroft now seems to join West Midlands rivals Aston Villa, who also poached Mark Harrison from the Baggies last year when the academy manager quit his role at The Hawthorns.
Hopcroft oversaw the recruitment of a number of good young players who have broken into the first team at the Baggies.
According to the Birmingham Mail, Louie Barry, Izzy Brown, Rekeem Harper, Kyle Edwards, Nathan Ferguson, Saido Berahino, Kemar Roofe and Romaine Sawyers are among those scouted by Hopcroft before they were brought in.
Now it is over to Luke Dowling to find a replacement for Hopcroft and that is not going to be an easy job.
In other West Brom news, Paul Robinson has said how the season should be finished.