Two In, One Out In Brighton Backroom Staff Shake-Up

Brighton and Hove Albion have been using the mid-season domestic break to shake things up behind the scenes.

Mike Cave has been appointed as the club's new Assistant Technical Director.

He will oversee football operations, including recruitment, analysis, medical and player welfare, across both the men's and women's set-up.

Credit: Paul Hazlewood/Brighton and Hove Albion

Technical Director, David Weir, said:

“We went through a thorough process in recruiting Mike and I am delighted to welcome him to the club.

“He arrives after eight years of work at Fulham, which has been not only evident on the pitch with the academy graduates, but also in the way he has driven their development programme.

“We’re extremely excited by the ideas that Mike can bring to the Albion and myself and many of my colleague are really looking forward to working closely with him.”

Mike graduated from Loughborough University with a degree and masters in Sports Science and Sports Management, before being accepted onto the competitive International Management Group (IMG) internship scheme, where he took up a full-time position.

After six years with IMG, Mike joined Fulham in 2014 as academy performance manager, having also been working as a part-time coach in the youth development phase.

He was appointed as the club's academy director in August 2021.

Albion appoint Zoe Johnson as women's and girls' MD

Credit: Brighton and Hove Albion

Zoe Johnson has been confirmed as the club's new managing director of women’s and girls’ football, following a thorough external recruitment process.

She is currently head of women’s football at Sheffield United and brings an impressive range of experience to the club, having held roles as RTC technical director at Liverpool, women’s first-team manager at Sheffield FC.

She also has several years of experience coaching both boys and girls of all ages at Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers.

Zoe will sit on the club’s executive committee and report to chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber.

Winstanley heading to Chelsea

Meanwhile, Paul Winstanley has left the club to take up a new role at Chelsea, after the two clubs agreed a compensation package.

Paul joined Albion in 2014 from Derby County, and played a key role in the club's on-pitch successes of the past eight years.

He oversaw all elements of recruitment, initially under David Burke, before working closely with Dan Ashworth and David Weir more recently.

Paul said:

"It has been the most memorable, successful and enjoyable period of my career.

"I would like to thank everyone at Brighton, but most importantly Tony Bloom and Paul Barber for the opportunity they gave me along with their unbelievable support.

"I’m incredibly proud to have played my part at Brighton & Hove Albion over the past eight years.

"I wish everyone connected to the club well for the future."