Former Hearts captain Steven Pressley lands job in English Championship

Ex-Hearts captain Steven Pressley is back in football after landing a job in the English Championship.

Former Hearts defender Steven Pressley - pictured on recent pundit duties at Tynecastle - has returned to coaching with Brentford. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The former Tynecastle defender has been appointed head of individual development at promotion-chasing Brentford and will start his new post on July 1.

The 47-year-old returns to coaching for the first time since being sacked by Carlisle United in November 2019, having previously bossed Falkirk, Coventry City, Fleetwood Town and Cypriot outfit Pafos.

Pressley will team up with his son, Aaron 19, a former Hearts youth player, who is already part of the Bees' first team squad. He will also be reunited with his former team-mate and assistant manager Neil MacFarlane, who is head coach of Brentford B.

Brentford describe his role as a "key position on the club’s football staff", adding, "he will be responsible for monitoring the individual development programme of Brentford’s high potential players."

Head coach Thomas Frank said: "I am looking forward to getting Steven in and working with him.

"He is a very experienced coach who thinks not only as a head coach but also in terms of the development of the team and of the players.

"He has experience of developing players over many years and his results are very impressive.

"We are looking forward to working with him and lifting the individual development of our players to another level, we want to be up there with the very best."

Pressley spent eight years with Hearts, making 271 appearances between 1998 and 2006, and also took charge of two games as joint caretaker manager. He earned 32 caps for Scotland and had spells at Rangers, Celtic, Dundee United, Falkirk and Coventry.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.