Hughes and Naismith join Clarke’s Scotland coaching staff

‘Honoured to be invited’

Hughes joined Leicester last summer after previously being on the coaching staff at Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City.

He made more than 600 senior appearances in a playing career for Oldham Athletic, Notts County, Reading, Norwich, Leeds United, Scunthorpe United, Charlton Athletic and Bolton.

“From the moment I got the call from Steve I have felt extremely honoured to be invited to work with the Scotland men’s national team,” he said.

“My father is Scottish and, as well as this being a proud moment for me and my family, it is a hugely exciting time as a coach to be part of a World Cup qualifying campaign, with such a talented squad, following back-to-back Euro qualifications. I can’t wait to get started.”

‘Excited to be rejoining the team’

Naismith won 51 caps for Scotland and also played more than 500 times for Kilmarnock, Rangers, Everton, Norwich City and Hearts, where he began his coaching career in 2021 and ended up becoming Head Coach two years later. During that period he had his first spell as Clarke’s assistant on the national team.

“I am really excited to be rejoining the Scotland men’s national team coaching staff under Steve,” he said. When I left Hearts, I made a point of not jumping straight back in at the first offer but to reflect on my coaching experiences and wait for something that really excited me.

“When I first spoke to Steve about the possibility of coming back it was a no-brainer: I loved playing for my country, I’ve loved being part of the coaching team previously and I can’t wait to help support the mission to take Scotland to a World Cup again.” 

Clarke said he was delighted to have the pair on board. 

Speaking of Naismith, he added: “He has had opportunities to return to full-time club football, so it says a lot for his pride in the national team that he has agreed to join up with us again. I was really impressed by a number of potential candidates we’d spoken to when John [Carver] left to continue at Lechia Gdansk, but the fact we’ve worked together before makes for a seamless transition.”

On Hughes, Clarke said: “He has coached in a variety of roles since retiring from playing but has excelled as set-piece coach at Norwich City and now Leicester City and I am grateful to Marti Cifuentes for allowing Andrew to work with us during the international windows.”

Scotland start their campaign to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada with a double-header away to Denmark and Belarus early next month.