Newcastle United have confirmed Ben Dawson as the club’s new under-21 coach. The 41-year-old had been taking charge of the young Magpies temporarily since Elliot Dickman’s exit last month.
Dawson has experience in the role, coaching the under-21s for 18 months from January 2018 to June 2019. Newcastle are winless in the three fixtures he has taken charge of since Dickman’s departure but toon chiefs have witnessed enough to offer him the full-time job.
His first task is to prepare for the trip to bitter rivals Sunderland on Monday. Speaking to the club website, Dawson said: "I'm delighted to be given the opportunity and responsibility of leading the under-21s once again and hope that my recent experiences with the first team can help align the professional development phase to the first team.
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"Covering the role alongside Neil (Winskill) on an interim basis has allowed me to see the significant and positive changes that have happened at the Academy and evidence how rapidly the club is progressing across all departments. I'm looking forward to putting into practice what I've learned during my time with the first team."
Sporting director Dan Ashworth also provided an update following the last major academy decision. He added: "Ben is an outstanding coach. He understands the Newcastle United DNA and he knows better than anyone what is required for players to make the step into Eddie Howe's first-team squad.
"It's brilliant for the club and our young players that we have someone so aligned with the first team that can help our young players make that next step."
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