Macaulay reunited with Potter after being named West Ham Head of Recruitment
Written by
Training Ground Guru
January 24, 2025
Kyle Macaulay has been reunited with Graham Potter after being appointed as the new Head of Recruitment at West Ham.
The Scot has worked with Potter for almost 13 years, first joining up with him at Ostersunds in April 2012. He became Head of Performance Analysis for the Swedish side and then moved with Potter to Swansea, Brighton and Chelsea, where he was Assistant Head of Recruitment.
When Potter was sacked as Chelsea boss, in April 2023, Macaulay remained at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking at his press conference ahead of West Ham’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, Potter said: “Kyle is in. He has been part of my staff for however many years, (since) I’ve been coaching since Sweden, so I know him well and he knows me well.
“It’s a good link between the coach and the club in terms of recruitment, in terms of the hours and depths of conversations that you have to have around recruitment. It’s easier to have with Kyle than it is for me, because clearly I’m on the pitch and I’m working with the 20 odd players that we’ve got here.
“So I’m really happy with that appointment, something that was always going to happen, it was just a case of when. I’m obviously delighted he’s here.
“He’s Head of Recruitment, to provide a link between myself, the coach, and the club, to make the best decisions we can. Recruitment is about having lots of conversations and lots of work to make the right decision.
“The reality of it is Head Coaches in the Premier League these days, time to spend on that in a global market is nearly impossible, so having someone like Kyle to help in that regard is going to be great for us and great for me.”
Meanwhile, Technical Director Tim Steidten is set to leave the club. The German joined in July 2023 and had overall responsibility for scouting and recruitment. He had previously been ‘Manager Sport’ at Bayer Leverkusen.
Potter refused to be drawn on Steidten’s position, saying: “No, no, nothing to report for me. We have had a full week’s training, so again my focus has been on the players and the staff here. We are working with the club and doing our best to help the club improve, that’s all I can say.”
West Ham have not had a Head of Recruitment since Rob Newman left the club at the end of last season, along with David Moyes and his backroom staff.
Kyle Macaulay: From speculative letter to Head of Recruitment
Potter and Macaulay have an association that goes back more than a decade, starting at Swedish side Ostersunds.
Macaulay was 26 and playing semi-pro football while completing a degree at the University of Stirling when he wrote a letter to Potter asking about playing opportunities at the club.
“He got back to me saying that his squad was full, but he was looking to recruit staff,” the Scot remembered. “I think my University coach James had put in a good word and I ended up heading out on a six-month internship.
“I thought it would likely be six months in Sweden, gain experience, and then head back to the UK looking for a job.”
When he arrived in northern Sweden in April 2012, he was “at a bit of a career crossroads”, not sure whether to pursue playing or coaching, but his mind was soon made up.
I am very aware of how Graham works and what he wants.
Kyle Macaulay (June 2018)
“My role has gradually grown to the point that I don’t really miss playing,” Macaulay said in a 2013 interview. “I’ve got that hunger as a coach or analyst, which I didn’t have as a player by the time this opportunity came around.
“I’m involved a little bit with the training. In the day there are various tasks… on the recruitment side there are emails from agents [and] lot of work watching the games, the teams we are about to play. Last year and this year we have a contract with Prozone, who do the match analysis in various levels.”
Macaulay was born in Elgin and is the nephew of former Aberdeen boss Steve Paterson. He left school at 16 to join Derby County, but was released after two years at Pride Park.
He was then signed by Paterson, at Aberdeen, and made his debut in February 2006 against Hearts at Tynecastle, although he didn’t manage to establish himself in the side and went on to play at Peterhead and Alloa before reaching that crossroads.
At Ostersunds, he became part of an inner circle of staff around Potter, along with Billy Reid, the former Clyde and Hamilton Accies manager who is now Assistant at West Ham and Bjorn Hamberg, who also worked at Swansea and Chelsea but is now Assistant at Feyenoord in Holland.
They all immersed themselves in the local culture and in 2017 TGG published this piece about a concert that Potter, his players and staff had put on outside the Jamtli Museum in the town, dedicated to the indigenous Sapmi tribe, also known as Laplanders.
Macaulay, took to the stage with a microphone and delivered this rap:
Scottish born in 1986,
Not from the streets but the Highland sticks,
That’s all I can say to the audience, hey,
Over and out from Kyle Macaulay!
When Macaulay joined Swansea, as Head of Recruitment, he said: “This is a very exciting opportunity for me. I obviously know Graham very well from our time at Ostersunds and I’m delighted to take up the role. I am very aware of how Graham works and what he wants.
“What we want to have is a clear and simple system where everyone knows exactly what is required of them. We want a really committed recruitment team who know exactly what Swansea needs.”
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