Liverpool U23s coach Neil Critchley leaves club to become Blackpool boss

Forty-one-year-old previously coached Reds’ under-18 team

Liverpool under-23s coach Neil Critchley has left the European champions for a new role as head coach of League One side Blackpool.

Critchley, 41, had been U23s coach at Liverpool since 2017 and previously was in charge of the Reds’ U18s for four years.

“I am absolutely delighted to join Blackpool,” Critchley said in a statement on the League One club’s site. “The trust and faith that has been shown in me [...] gives me a very special feeling inside.

“I can’t wait to get started, I’m really looking forward to the weeks and months ahead, meeting the players, working on the grass, developing the team and meeting some of the supporters.

“The time I’ve had at Liverpool has been truly special. I’ve been incredibly well supported there from Alex Inglethorpe, the academy manager, and all the staff.

“It’s a truly special football club and it’s the people that make the football club the place that it is. It would have had to have taken something equally as special, if not more, for me to even think about leaving.

“But from the conversations I’ve had here, I got a really good feeling about the people, where they want the club to go and how they want it to grow.”

Earlier in the season, Critchley oversaw Liverpool’s 5-0 Carabao Cup defeat by Aston Villa while Jurgen Klopp led the rest of the first-team squad to Fifa Club World Cup victory.

Critchley also took charge for the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury, which took place during the mid-season break and was won 1-0 by Liverpool.