Leigh Bromby spoke to HTTV about his new role at Huddersfield Town
- Leigh Bromby starts role as Head of Football Operations
- Bromby discussed Huddersfield Town, the role and the COVID-19 situation
- Watch the full interview for free on #HTTV
Leigh Bromby started his new role as Head of Football Operations at Huddersfield Town on Monday 4 May 2020.
Bromby was announced as the incoming Head of Football Operations back in February 2020 and has since been working closely with David Webb, alongside his previous role as Academy Manager, to make the transition as smooth as possible.
On his first day in the new role, Bromby caught up with #HTTV to discuss the role and how that intertwines with the work done by Danny and Nicky Cowley.
“I think it’s been important to be able to work closely, observe and see what’s going on.
“My focus within the Academy was full on, it’s a hands-on job, so being able to have that opportunity to learn some of the aspects that I’m going to have to work with has been important.
“As a club we are very good at involving everyone in that learning journey. As Academy Manager I’ve been able to sit in on a lot of meetings that you might not get at other clubs, so I feel that’s been a big help for me.
“I was exposed to a lot of meetings with Julian Winter, the old Chief Executive, and the Owners as Academy Manager, which has helped as well.
“Ultimately, my job is to support the managers and the staff to help maintain performance and to give everyone the clarity of what we are trying to achieve.
“The communication between the managers and the owners is really important; that generally goes through me.
“I’ll be working with Danny day-to-day in terms of what he needs. He’s busy with his coaching and managing the team. Ideally, we create a really good relationship, which has started well already. We’ve had a lot of meetings discussing what he wants and then we work with the owners of the Club to piece all of that together.”
Following the COVID-19 pandemic all football matches have been postponed, but Leigh believes the time away from the fast-natured football industry will benefit him, Danny and Nicky Cowley.
“It’s been a different situation, a challenging one, but one we’ve been able to look at the positives.
“The mindset of the Club is how can we come out of this better than when we started. No-one has been sat back thinking we can’t do anything; it’s been really proactive.
“I’ve had regular meetings with Danny, meetings with him about how we can improve, everything. I believe this time has given us an opportunity to look at the detail of how we do everything; how we deal with the players, how we work with the staff and how we want it to look.
“For us it’s been a real positive because football is so fast paced, you don’t get to spend this much time with the manager, so creating that relationship with him and Nicky had been fantastic. Being able to spend that time with each other has been a positive.”
The current situation could change the face of football long-term. Town’s new Head of Football Operations gave his thoughts on what could be ahead.
“I think there will be a big change. The financial impact on clubs would be huge, which is what a lot of people are talking about.
“Potentially not playing in front of crowds will affect a lot of clubs, so financially there will be a big change.
“Strategies for us in terms of players coming in, signings, what does that look like now in terms of the guidance we’ll be given, these are the discussions that are happening with Phil and the owners.
“The face of football will change. Football will have to cut its cloth a little bit.
“Until we are given more detail, from the Government, in terms of how we return to play and when those things are, the longer it goes on the probably bigger those changes become.
“Fingers crossed we can get back to some sort of football soon.”
You can watch the full interview with Leigh Bromby below on #HTTV!
