Hibs announce Steve Kean replacement as League Cup winner gets academy director nod

Hibs have moved quickly to appoint a successor to Steve Kean, who left his role as academy director to take up the managerial role with Torpedo Kutaisi in Georgia.

Gareth Evans has been appointed the new head of the Hibs academy

Gareth Evans, who previously served as head coach of the under-18s, will now head up the Easter Road side’s youth set-up, working closely with director of football Brian McDermott, first-team boss Lee Johnson, and chief executive Ben Kensell.

The 56-year-old made more than 300 appearances for Hibs as a player in the late eighties and early nineties, scoring 38 goals and winning the League Cup in 1991, before returning as reserve team coach in 2007. He had coaching spells at Alloa, Brechin and Livingston as well as with the Scotland youth teams before he was appointed head of youth at Hibs in September 2018. Since then he has worked extensively with the club’s academy teams, coaching the under-18s to the CAS Elite Under-18 League title last season, and the development side to the SPFL Reserve League title. He also coached the under-19s during their UEFA Youth League campaign including wins against Molde of Norway and French side Nantes.

Evans said: “I am delighted to be trusted with this role and will continue to build and develop the club’s academy set-up. We have a lot of talented coaches and players at HTC, and I’m really passionate about developing young players. Hibs has a great tradition of that, and I want that to continue with the coaches and players at the club.”

Kensell added: “Becoming academy director was the natural progression for Gareth after playing such a key role, alongside Steve, in the strategic outlook and progression of our academy set-up.

“As a club we always have to have progression plans in place, and plan for the future, and following conversations with Brian, and Lee, it was obvious to us that Gareth was the right fit for the position. Continuity in the club and in the academy set-up is vital for success and with Gareth we not only have that, but we have a top coach and someone with an excellent track record of developing young players. We look forward to seeing the impact he has on our young players in this role.”