Badlan appointed Sporting Director at Blackpool

CHAMPIONSHIP side Blackpool have appointed Chris Badlan as their new Sporting Director.

The 39-year-old has been working as Head of Recruitment at Coventry City since May 2018, when he joined from Norwich City.

At Blackpool he will replace Head of Football Operations John Stephenson, who “indicated at the beginning of September that he would be stepping down from his role in March”, the club said.

Blackpool explained that Badlan would be “working closely with Head Coach Michael Appleton and reporting in to the Board” and that he would “manage the sporting and performance departments at the club, including the support staff around the first team, Development Squad and Academy.”

Meanwhile, Stuart Benthom has also moved from Coventry, where he was Recruitment Analyst, to become Chief Scout at Blackpool.

“We ran a comprehensive process to ensure we identified the very best candidates,” Blackpool owner Simon Sadler said. “The quality of applicant was very high and for me, this reflects how the club has progressed across the three pillars of coaching, recruitment and Academy.

“As a Board, it quickly became apparent that Chris was the right person to take us forward and to bring the football departments together.”

Badlan added: “It’s a pleasure and an honour to be joining Blackpool at this exciting time for the club. To help build a footballing strategy for the long-term future and success of this football club is something that really excites me and I can’t wait to get started and work closely with Michael and the rest of the staff.”

Fourteen of the 24 Championship clubs now have a Sporting Director or equivalent (see below).