Ben Garner

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Ben Garner
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-05-19) 19 May 1980 (age 41)
Teams managed
Years Team
2005–2012 Crystal Palace (Academy coach)
2012–2015 Crystal Palace (First Team coach)
2015–2017 West Bromwich (Assistant Head Coach)
2019 ATK (Assistant Head Coach)
2019–2020 Bristol Rovers
2021– Swindon Town

Ben Garner (born 19 May 1980) is an English professional football coach who is currently head coach of League Two club Swindon Town.

Whilst completing the UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, he was mentored by then Chelsea manager José Mourinho.[1] Previously, Garner was the assistant head coach at West Bromwich Albion.[2] and first team coach at Crystal Palace. Before managing Bristol Rovers, he was assistant head coach at ATK in the Indian Super League. Garner began coaching at a young age following a serious injury with the original motivation to coach being he didn't feel young players were being coached well enough technically and tactically. Garner was also inspired by Terry Venables who "stood out from anything I had experienced previously".[3]

Career[]

Crystal Palace[]

Garner began his professional coaching career at Crystal Palace in 2005 where he spent the next seven years as youth coach at the Academy.

Initially appointed as head coach of the under-11 team, he progressed through the age groups to become head coach of the under-18 team. Garner set-up a full-time school programme in 2011. On 4 July 2012 Oasis Academy Shirley Park were crowned under-15 national champions with Garner stating 'they have won the cup by controlling games with possession football".[4] Players he coached on this programme included Aaron Wan-Bissaka.[5] A number of players progressed through the Academy during this period including Victor Moses, Nathaniel Clyne, Wilfried Zaha, Sean Scannell, Jonny Williams, and John Bostock.[citation needed]

He was promoted to first team coach in the 2012–13 season by manager Ian Holloway. Palace finished the season in 5th place and after beating rivals Brighton in the play-off semi-final progressed to Wembley on 27 May 2013 where they were promoted to the Premier League as play-off winners beating Watford 1–0 after extra time.

Garner remained in his role as first team coach for the next two seasons working under Holloway, Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock, and Alan Pardew. Palace retained their Premier League status for the first time in the club’s history in 2013–14 finishing in 11th place with then manager Tony Pulis earning the LMA Manager of the Year award. Palace went one better in 2014–15 finishing in 10th place.[citation needed]

Garner left Crystal Palace on 7 July 2015 by mutual consent.[6] Former Crystal Palace player Peter Ramage spoke of his disappointment at Garner leaving the club.[7] Chairman Stephen Parish predicated a bright future in the game for the local-born coach. [8]

West Bromwich Albion[]

He was appointed as first team coach at West Bromwich Albion on 9 October 2015, where he was reunited with former manager Tony Pulis.[9]

On 26 September 2016, West Bromwich Albion promoted Garner to assistant head coach.[10] At the end of the 2016–17 season West Bromwich Albion finished in 10th place. In January 2017, he was linked to the vacant manager's job at Nottingham Forest.[11] Pulis has stated that Garner has the potential to become a manager in the future.[12] Albion finished the 2016–17 season in 10th position in the Premier League.

Throughout his time at the club, Garner took charge of several fixtures including EFL trophy games, pre-season matches [13] and the international friendly against Delhi Dynamos.[14]

Garner departed West Bromwich Albion in December 2017.

In 2018 Garner was reported to have turned down the opportunity to become manager of Bradford City due to a lack of assurances over control of the team.[15] And in December 2018 former Bristol Rovers, Southampton, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and England player Rickie Lambert described Garner as "very organised, but imaginative, and had a great understanding of players" when suggesting him as the ideal candidate for the manager job at Bristol Rovers.[16]

ATK[]

On 16 January 2019 he was appointed as assistant head coach under Steve Coppell for the rest of the season at Indian Super League club ATK.[17]

Bristol Rovers[]

After Graham Coughlan’s departure from Bristol Rovers in December 2019, Garner was again interviewed for the vacancy and was appointed on 23 December 2019.[18] In January 2020, Garner was granted extended leave from the club.[19]

Following a 2-1 victory away at Lincoln City on 10 October 2020, Garner was named Manager of the Week by the EFL and the Football League paper. On 14 October 2020 the development of Cian Harries and other young players was highlighted as part of the big picture being built at Bristol Rovers. [20] Harries himself spoke in glowing terms of Garner on 17 October 2020 regarding how hard he was working to develop his game and how much time he dedicates to each player. [21] Similarly, on 25 October 2020 David Tutonda enthused about his manager stating "he's a phenomenal person. He's a top, top coach, his attention to detail is unreal and he sees things that we don't see. He's a class act all around".[22] On 14 November 2020, Garner was relieved of his duties with the club following a 4–1 home defeat to Fleetwood Town.[23]

Swindon Town[]

On 21 July 2021, Garner was appointed head coach of Swindon Town by new owner Clem Morfuni.[24]

Managerial statistics[]

As of match played 18 September 2021
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P W D L Win %
Bristol Rovers 23 December 2019 14 November 2020 33 6 8 19 018.18 [25]
Swindon Town 21 July 2021 present 10 4 4 2 040.00
Total 43 10 12 21 023.26

References[]

  1. ^ "'He was fantastic' - How Jose Mourinho helped aspiring manager taking badges". Planet Football. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Ben Garner Biography". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 6 June 2017. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Ben Garner: My Coaching Journey So Far". Football DNA. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Crystal Palace FC Under 15s Named National Champions". Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Portrait : Aaron Wan-Bissaka, «The Spider», l'étoile montante de Crystal Palace". France Football. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Ben Garner leaves role as Crystal Palace first-team coach", Sky Sports London, 7 July 2015. Retrieved on 13 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Ramage sorry Garner leaving Crystal Palace - Tribal Football". www.tribalfootball.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Ben Garner leaves role as Crystal Palace first-team coach". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  9. ^ Suart, Paul (19 November 2015). "West Brom first team coach Ben Garner keen to tackle troubling confidence issue". birminghammail. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Garner moves up to Assistant Head Coach". West Bromwich Albion F.C. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  11. ^ McCartney, Aidan (23 January 2017). "West Brom coach emerges as surprise contender for Championship job". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Pulis on why he chose Megson". West Bromwich Albion F.C. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  13. ^ Masi, Joseph. "Walsall 1 West Brom 2 - Report and pictures". Express & Star. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  14. ^ Moxley, Neil (3 September 2016). "Tony Pulis' West Brom future has been plunged into doubt". Mirror. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Who is Ben Garner, Bradford City's potential new manager?". Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  16. ^ Maggs, Neil (24 December 2018). "Exclusive: Gas legend Rickie Lambert on who should be next Rovers manager". Bristol Post. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  17. ^ Chapman, Joseph (19 January 2019). "Ex-Albion coach returns to football with coaching role in India". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Ben Garner Announced as First-Team Manager". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Statement: Manager Granted Period of Extended Leave". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  20. ^ Frost, Sam (13 October 2020). "Harries' growth evidence of Garner's very own Project Big Picture". BristolLive. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  21. ^ Frost, Sam (17 October 2020). "Harries explains role of Garner, Mowbray and Laporte in Rovers emergence". BristolLive. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  22. ^ Frost, Sam (25 October 2020). "Rovers' football and internet sensation David Tutonda on 'unreal' start at Gas". BristolLive. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Statement: Ben Garner". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 14 November 2020.
  24. ^ "New Director of Football and Head Coach Appointed". www.swindontownfc.co.uk. 21 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Ben Garner managerial statistics". SofaScore. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
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