Sheffield Wednesday make backroom staff appointment official as former Bradford City and West Brom figure joins club

Wayne Jacobs, a former teammate of Moore’s from their time together at Bradford City, has joined as a second assistant manager having helped the club on a voluntary basis at various stages throughout the campaign.

The 53-year-old Sheffield-born Wednesdayite started life as an Owls player and made a handful of appearances under Howard Wilkinson before forging a career elsewhere in Yorkshire, most notably with the Bantams where he became a club icon.

Jacobs worked with Moore at West Brom and had been seen as a likely candidate to replace Paul Williams in a coaching role last summer. He had been spotted in Wednesday dugouts on a number of occasions throughout the campaign but has now made his position official.

“We’ve committed him to the football club and he’s got a more senior role with us,” Moore said.

“He knows me, he knows how I work and the dynamics in terms of being out on the pitch helping me structure the team and work with the team.

“He was doing stuff at the start of the season on a voluntary basis. Now we’ve got him working more closely and doing more work at the football club.

“His experience is good for me, he knows how I think and how I work. To have that on board is good for us.

“It’s a part-time role. He comes in three days or so a week to lend his support. But we’re forever in constant contact, when he’s not at the club we’re on the phone.”

The appointment adds another official appointment to Moore’s Wednesday revolution, with the likes of Smith, goalkeeping coach Adriano Basso and fitness chief Rob Lee having been specially chosen by the Owls boss in recent months.

Asked about how is role will work, Moore said: “He’ll come in and work alongside Jamie as an assistant manager. Both roles are different. Jamie is more pitch-based in the day time, Wayne will work more off the pitch dyanmics and tactics. Both will play really significant roles.

“It’s a similar role to the one Wayne played with me at West Brom when Graeme Jones was assistant.”

That Jacobs grew up a Wednesday fan only proves his passion for the club, Moore said. It is understood that the coach will balance his Wednesday commitments with the running of his children’s charity, One in a Million, based in Bradford.

He lives within an hour’s drive of the club’s Middlewood Road training ground, making it an ideal fit for all involved.

Moore continued: “I wanted him to get a feel of it and it’s full circle for him. Wednesday was the club where he started, he grew up in Sheffield and all his family are Wednesday.

“To have him back is great and he’s a proud man to be a part of helping shape things here. It’s a wonderful story for him to be back here.

“He’s always been in and around it, but it’s probably more official now.”