Watford staff profiles

CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Scott Duxbury

Nationality: English

Qualified as a lawyer and worked in that capacity for West Ham before becoming their chief executive. His time at Upton Park was controversial though, with the club fined £30m because of the Carlos Tevez affair, and he left in 2010 when David Gold and David Sullivan took over. Has been at Watford since 2012, when the Pozzo family took over, and is a key figure on both the football and business sides of the club.

SPORTING DIRECTOR

Cristiano Giaretta

Nationality: Italian

Joined in August 2020 from Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, where he had worked since February 2019. Staff were told he was leaving in September 2022, only for the Italian to be quickly reinstated. Knows Watford owners the Pozzos from his three-year spell as Sporting Director of their other club, Udinese.

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Ben Manga

Nationality: Equatorial Guinea

Played professionally in Germany before moving into coaching and scouting. Spent six-and-a-half seasons at Eintracht Frankfurt, as Scout, Chief Scout and then Director of Professional Football. Joined Watford in December 2022.

HEAD COACH

Slaven Bilic

Nationality: Croatian

Won 44 caps for Croatia and played for clubs including Everton and West Ham. Also a well-travelled coach, having managed sides in Croatia, Russia, Turkey, England, Saudi Arabia and China.

ASSISTANT

Danilo Butorovic

Nationality: Croatian

Was a manager in his own right, for HNK Orijent 1919 in Croatia, before linking up with Bilic at Al-Ittihad, West Brom and Beijing Guoan. Has a strong background in analysis as well as coaching.

ASSISTANT

Dean Racunica

Nationality: Croatian

Creative midfielder for Hajduk Split, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Austria Salzburg during an 18-year playing career. Was Bilic’s assistant at Hajduk Split, Al-Ittihad, West Brom and Beijing Guoan and does opposition scouting and analysis as well as coaching.

GOALKEEPER COACH

Alex Brunner

Nationality: Italian

Was a goalkeeper in his homeland, playing more than 300 senior games, before moving into coaching with Como and then Udinese, Watford's sister club.

HEAD OF MEDICAL

Dr Ian Hamilton

Nationality: English

Promoted to this new role in 2016.

PERFORMANCE CO-ORDINATOR

Alvaro Reina

Nationality: Spanish

Joined club in November 2020, having been assistant at Deportivo Alavés in La Liga. Was a teacher in Málaga before moving into coaching and performance analysis in 2005. As well as various roles in the Spanish leagues, including three spells at Málaga CF, has worked for FC Dnipro in the Ukranian Premier League and for the Panama national team.

SPORTS SCIENTIST

Lee Stafford

Nationality: English

Joined the club as an intern in October 2015. Went full time with the U21s in July 2016 and promoted to the first team in July 2018.

REHAB FITNESS COACH

Cristian Fernandez

Nationality: Spanish

Worked for Newcastle for five years before a four-month stint at Everton in 2021/22. Joined Watford in August 2022.

S&C COACH

Jorge Abella

Nationality: Spanish

Also arrived with Muñoz in December 2020, having worked with him at Dinamo Tbilisi.

PHYSIO

Daniel Simm

Nationality: English

Was U23 physio for a year before becoming Head of Medical at Peterborough in June 2018. That role only lasted five months, before Simm returned to Watford as first-team physio in October 2018.

HEAD OF ANALYSIS & TALENT ID

Miguel Rios

Nationality: English

Joined from Opta Pro, where he was Head of Football, in August 2020. Highly experienced, having held senior recruitment roles with Fulham, Wolves and Brentford.

LEAD FIRST TEAM ANALYST

Woody Dewar

Nationality: English

Worked for Tottenham for three-and-a-half years, latterly as Head of Academy Analysis, before joining Watford in June 2021.

LEAD ANALYST AND TACTICAL ASSISTANT

Miguel Munoz

Nationality: Spanish

Brother of the Head Coach and also arrived at the club in December 2020, having previously spent a season with Valencia in La Liga.