New Academy Structure Announced

Following the re-establishment of its own Academy at the beginning of 2022, DAFC are pleased to announce a revised management structure to take the Academy forward.

Bill Hendry will take on the newly established position as Head Of Academy – Operations, capitalizing on his great knowledge and experience in academy football operations. DAFC owe a great debt to Bill as he was instrumental in helping the club transfer over many aspects from Fife Elite into our newly formed operation. Bill has vast experience in Scottish Football having held senior Academy positions with Fife Elite and Hibernian FC.

In addition to Bill, Greg Shields has moved from First Team affairs into a newly created position as Head of Academy – Football. Within this role, Greg will have responsibility for the development of the Dunfermline Athletic youth football philosophy and oversee all footballing aspects of the Academy. Greg will also help ensure that the transition from Academy to first team is bridged with his knowledge and experience in both areas.

Both newly created positions will report directly into Club Chairman and CEO, David Cook.

David Cook commented: “Establishing and developing our Academy is a crucial part of the long term strategy of Dunfermline Athletic. We have a lot of work to do in this space, but we are committed to building up a strong elite development pathway. We are already seeing the fruits of the labour in this space with 9 of the current first team coming from Fife Elite and our own academy. The ambition is to build this up even further.

We are pleased to have Bill and Greg in place and believe their skills compliment each other with Bill extremely strong on the operational side coupled with Greg’s knowledge on the technical side. Greg will also play a pivotal role in helping young players as they move into the professional environment. Greg is a great example to local players. A local boy who represented the club with distinction playing in cup finals and Europe, being sold to a Premier League club in England before coming back to the club - first as a player and then as a first team coach.

I know both Bill and Greg are highly motivated in helping the Club to develop our Academy operations over the coming seasons.”