Former Sheffield Wednesday figure lands major backroom role with ambitious League One rivals

Sam Williams, who worked with Tractor Boys boss Kieran McKenna at Manchester United, will become head of recruitment at Portman Road.

He arrives form the Premier League giants where he worked for over four years, most recently as first team recruitment analyst.

But he started his journey at Wednesday, spending nine months as an academy scout back in 2017 before taking on what was initially a joint role with United and Bolton Wanderers.

His will be an important and heavily scrutinised role at Ipswich, with much having been made of the quality of their summer recruitment under Paul Cook.

The Suffolk side were bought out by ambitious American owners last year and Cook – now at Chesterfield – was heavily backed in the transfer market before his sacking in December.

McKenna, a first team staff member at Manchester United before he arrived to replace Cook, has overseen a surge up the table that has given them a puncher’s chance of landing a playoff spot this season.

“[Ipswich CEO] Mark Ashton really sold the Club and it’s a really exciting time to be joining,” Williams said following confirmation of his appointment.

“It’s been a privilege to work for Manchester United and I’ve worked with fantastic people, but this was an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down.

“We’re going to implement a very thorough and methodical process which will help provide the best available players to help us achieve our aims and ambitions, which is getting the Club back up the leagues.”