Former Nottingham Forest academy chief Gary Brazil is set to take on a new role with the Football Association, as head of men’s recruitment and retention for England.
Brazil, 60, will identify potential future international players at all age groups, right up to the senior side, under manager Gareth Southgate.
Part of his role will be to ensure that England do not lose potential international players to other countries, when they might have dual-nationality; to highlight them as future England players ahead of any rivals.
He will also have an influence on the overall scouting network within the England set-up.
Brazil, who had three spells as caretaker manager at Forest, worked for more than a decade at the Nigel Doughty Academy, helping to oversee the development of players like Matty Cash, Ben Brereton Diaz, Joe Worrall, Brennan Johnson, Ryan Yates and Ben Osborn.
Forest’s under-21 side reached the final of the Premier League Two play-offs last season, while the under-18 side reached the final of the FA Youth Cup, where they were beaten by Manchester United, in 2022.
Brazil left the Premier League club in recent weeks, at the end of his contract, which was not renewed.
Recently appointed chief football officer Ross Wilson is spearheading a wide ranging restructuring of the football infrastructure at the City Ground, including the appointment of Craig Mulholland — who previously worked with him at Glasgow Rangers — as head of football development.
While Chris McGuane, formerly Brazil’s assistant, will be promoted to a more senior role.
But while he was disappointed to depart Forest, Brazil has quickly been snapped up by the Football Association and will help to identify the next generations who will follow in the footsteps of Harry Kane, John Stones, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
Wilson and Mulholland have made a positive impact in a short space of time at the club, where much of the focus of attention has been on finding a way to address the injury problems that hampered Steve Cooper’s side last season, when they suffered one of the worst injury records in the top flight.
Jon Fearn, the former Chelsea physiotherapist, was the most recent appointment. Fearn, a physiotherapist with more than three decades experience of elite football, spent 13 years at Stamford Bridge, working with 11 different managers in a period that saw the London club win 12 major trophies.
Alek Gross, formerly Southampton’s head of sports science and first-team fitness coach, has moved to the City Ground to take up a role as head of performance.
The club have also appointed Adam Burrows — another former Chelsea staff member — as their new head of strength and conditioning.
GO DEEPER
The boys from Brazil: Forest’s academy sees the end of an era
(Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
