Sheffield Wednesday: Ex-Owls star Steve Haslam takes over from Dean Ramsdale as head of Wednesday academy

As first revealed by The Star on May 29, Dean Ramsdale has vacated the post to join City Football Group and Haslam, who played for the Owls after joining their academy at the age of eight, has been announced today as his successor.

A Wednesday statement said: "Haslam continues his long association at Hillsborough which began as a player after rising through the academy ranks.

"His playing and coaching experience at youth level will no doubt serve the 37-year-old well as he steps up to his new role at Hillsborough.

"During his professional career, Haslam made 171 appearances for Wednesday, the first of which was a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Hillsborough.

"He also played for Halifax, Northampton, Bury and Hartlepool, making over 400 appearances in a 16-year professional career before retiring in 2012 to turn his attention to coaching full time.

"Previously with the club, Haslam has held the roles of Lead Coach for the Professional Development Phase (Under-18s) and Head of Coaching during a hugely successful period for the Owls’ youth set-up.

"Sheffield Wednesday would like to thank Dean for all his hard work and wish him well throughout his next chapter."

City Football Group manage clubs including Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City and Yokohama Marinos. Ramsdale, who spent over four and a half years at Hillsborough, will be based at the City Football Academy campus in Manchester.

In an interview with The Star earlier this year, Ramsdale - a well-respected figure in the sport, having worked in youth development over 20 years - said: “We have improved everything from top to bottom.

"From when I first came in, we have heavily restructured our recruitment department. We have now got specific heads of local, national and international recruitment.

“We’ve got boys in our system who we wouldn’t have got before. We have got better players but we are looking to constantly get better.”