Pepper appointed Academy Manager at Sheffield Wednesday

At Wednesday, he replaces Steve Haslam, who left the club after almost two decades to join the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC) last month.

Pepper, who was once Project Manager for the previous Academy Auditors, Double Pass, said: “My focus is on player and staff development and bringing my experience of nearly 30 years in football to Sheffield Wednesday.

“There’s plenty of competition in the area for players and that presents a really good challenge. I’ve worked at different levels from the Premier League and through the divisions, with a lot of players who have gone on to have great careers. 

“That applies to staff as well off the pitch, I have a range of experiences working for different clubs with different models and I’m here to enhance the good work already in place here at Wednesday.

“I’m coming into a club with a really good Academy programme and tangible links to the first team. I’ve had a good chat with (Under-21s boss) Neil Thompson, we go back a long way, and he understands how an academy operates with pathways to the first team.

“So looking around, there are good, experienced staff here to lean on and support. It’s not about one person, it’s about a strong group working together as a team to produce the right outcomes in the short and long term.”

Pepper was our guest on Episode #2 of the TGG Podcast, when he was at Burnley. Category Two Wednesday placed 52nd in TGG’s Academy Productivity Rankings for 2023/24, down 10 places from 42nd in 2021/22.