Bonner returns to Cambridge for first Director of Football role

He went on to become First Team Coach and Assistant, before being named permanent Head Coach in March 2020. In that role, he led the U’s to promotion back to League One in 2020/21 and kept them there for two seasons before being sacked in November 2023.

After that came eight months in charge of League Two Gillingham, which ended with the sack at the start of this year.

At Cambridge, he replaces Ben Strang, who left the club earlier this month after two spells spanning more than 13 years. Bonner worked in tandem with Strang when he was Head Coach. The U’s are currently bottom of League One and have also brought in Neil Harris as their new Head Coach, replacing Garry Monk, who was sacked earlier this week.

Cambridge owner Paul Barry said that Bonner “knows the club inside out – its strengths, its culture and values, and also the areas that we must seek to improve.”

He added: “He is an exceptional individual and we believe his leadership, strategic thinking and deep understanding of the game can make him an outstanding Director of Football for us over the long term. He will undertake the second part of the football review as the planning starts now to get ready for next season – alongside fighting to stay up.”