Who is Kevin Thelwell? What Rangers' new sporting director will bring to club as sweeping Ibrox changes begin
The 51-year-old joins from Premier League side Everton - and his appointment is the first clear sign of major change in Govan
Kevin Thelwell has been announced as Rangers new sporting director and will begin his new post at Ibrox upon the expiry of his contract at Premier League side Everton this summer.
Chief executive Patrick Stewart has been leading the search to fill the position since February after setting up a “root-and-branch review of the entire football department” at the turn of the year in an attempt to bring success back to the club.
Rangers had been operating without a director of football since Ross Wilson left for Nottingham Forest in April 2023. The Govan outfit have won just one league title in 14 years and have sacked three managers - Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement - since 2022.
A club statement read: “Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Kevin Thelwell as Sporting Director. Thelwell, 51, will join the Light Blues from Everton following the expiry of his contract with the Toffees.’
“The appointment of a Sporting Director at Rangers was made a priority in the Football Review, which was instigated at the beginning of the year. Thelwell will assume overall responsibility for all areas of the football operation, including men’s women’s and academy.”
Who is Kevin Thelwell? What clubs has he played and worked for?
Thelwell’s playing career failed to take off. He progressed through Crewe Alexandra’s youth academy before moving to Shrewsbury Town, where he gained an apprenticeship and made the step up to the pro ranks. However, he wouldn’t make a senior appearance and instead reverted to a career at semi-pro level.
He made the transition into coaching with the Football Association of Wales Trust following his appointment as the Football Development Officer for Denbighshire in 1998. He holds a UEFA Pro Licence and completed a Bsc (Hons) degree in Sport Science.
The Rangers statement continued: “Thelwell’s journey in the professional game began as Director of Youth at Preston North End, before taking on Academy Manager roles at Derby County, and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.
“In 2016, Thelwell was appointed Sporting Director at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he was responsible for all areas of football operations, including player recruitment, performance, medical, analysis, and the academy. He then moved to the United States to become Head of Sport at New York Red Bulls, overseeing the sporting strategy and operations across their MLS team and affiliated clubs.
“In 2022, he returned to England to take up the role of Director of Football at Everton, leading on first-team recruitment, academy development, and the implementation of the club’s overall football strategy.”
What has Kevin Thelwell said about his new role?
Speaking for the first time since accepting his new job, Thelwell told the club’s official website: “This is a huge honour for me to be joining a club with the size, stature and expectations of Rangers. From the first conversations, it was clear to me how ambitious the club is, and I’m excited to play a part in shaping its next chapter.
“I know how much Rangers means to so many people, and that brings both responsibility and motivation. Rangers needs to win. That’s the bottom line. There’s a strong foundation already in place, and I look forward to working closely with the teams across the men’s, women’s and academy programmes to build something that delivers consistently.
“Of course, there’s important work ahead, especially in men’s first-team structure but we’ll approach it with energy and purpose. While change takes time, I’m confident that we can make real progress. I can’t wait to get started.”
What has CEO Patrick Stewart said on the appointment?
“I am delighted to be welcoming Kevin to the club following a rigorous recruitment process. Our Football Review quickly identified the need to appoint a Sporting Director, and in Kevin, we have found an outstanding candidate with terrific experience in the Premier League and the MLS.
“It will be the role of Kevin, with the full support of myself and the board to lead our football department and deliver the results our supporters expect and deserve.”
How has Kevin Thelwell fared at Everton?
During his three years on Merseyside, Thelwell has overseen a challenging period both on and off field the field at Everton, including struggles with PSR rules, points deductions, a relegation battle and managerial changes.
On a positive note, he has helped the Goodison Park club gain £226 million in transfer fees, while spending just £145m across six transfer windows. He will depart in the coming weeks with the club now on the rise again under David Moyes and heading into a new era with a new stadium built and in place for next season.
According to Sky Sports, Thelwell met senior Rangers figureheads recently and has already visited the club’s training facilities at Auchenhowie. His appointment is the first clear sign of major change in Govan with the club stating they have held “productive conversations” with a US consortium over a potential takeover deal that will “inject additional capital”.
What can Kevin Thelwell bring to Rangers? How does he like to operate?
While Barry Ferguson continues to steady the ship as interim boss until the end of the season, Rangers have been working behind the scenes to ensure the right structures are in place to herald the start of a new chapter.
Giulia Bould, who worked on the podcast series ‘Everton: Nothing Will Be The Same’ and interviewed Thelwell, has provided BBC Scotland with an insight into how he likes to work.
She stated: “He is somebody who likes to try to keep things stable. It was far from stable at Everton – there was a couple of PSR breaches, back-to-back relegation battles – so he certainly didn't have an easy time of it. It's important to say as well for a lot of the time he had an interim board there and a very absent owner.
"Thelwell is a man who likes to work collaboratively, he likes to work with managers, he likes to work with the board. He didn't always have that unfortunately behind him. He also had quite a close bond with players. We saw that when he announced he was leaving Everton – the likes of Idrissa Guyeye, who he brought back from PSG, saying online he wanted to put his record of thanks to him and saying he worked exceptionally hard in really difficult circumstances.
“Thelwell is someone as well who likes to look across everything. It's not just the first team, it's the academy, the women's side. He's certainly a man that puts in very long hours.
“Everton were definitely in a mess long before Thelwell arrived. And those PSR breaches, because the cycle is over three years, were already in effect before his time. And the big list of Everton players he has brought in – the likes of Iliman Ndiaye, who is outstanding at the moment, James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil, who were both brought in on frees.
“You've got the likes of Amadou Onana that was brought in then sold to Aston Villa for big money to Aston Villa. So he likes to buy players that he knows if he has to sell them, they are going to bring in a big transfer fee.
“The loan market is something Thelwell works in really well too. Conor Coady was brought in from Wolves, where Thelwell was previously, and Carlos Alcaraz arrived on an interesting loan deal from Flamengo where Everton have the option to buy on a cut-price deal if he hits a certain number of appearances. So he knows how to wheel and deal.
“Thelwell worked tirelessly to ensure that not only would Everton be a Premier League club but still in existence. He has done absolutely magnificently. He'll be under pressure at Rangers – he's certainly had pressure non-stop at Everton for three years. So I think he'll understand how big the Rangers job is.”