Graham Potter has been appointed Brighton and Hove Albion’s new head coach with immediate effect, having agreed a four-year contract.
He is the first manager Albion have appointed since December 2014.
He joins after a year with Swansea City, who he guided to a tenth-place finish in the EFL Championship. Potter impressed at the Liberty Stadium during a season of transition, after the club’s relegation from the Premier League just prior to his arrival.
He made his name at Ostersunds FK, where he led the club from the fourth to the first tier of Swedish football, enjoyed success in the Swedish Cup and impressed on the European stage in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Potter said: “I was sold by the long-term vision and passion shown by Tony Bloom, Paul Barber and Dan Ashworth.
“The ideas and plans they have for the future of this football club excited me. I am thrilled and honoured to be a part of it.
“This club has been on an incredible journey and my aim, along with Bjorn (Hamberg), Kyle (Macauley) and Billy (Reid), is to ensure the great work that has gone before us is built on as we strive to cement our place in the Premier League for many years to come.”
Chairman Tony Bloom said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of one of the brightest young English coaches. Graham Potter has an excellent record of developing teams with an attractive playing style, fierce determination and a strong collective spirit.
“We are excited about our third successive season in the Premier League and we now wish to build on the solid foundations laid by Chris Hughton. We believe that Graham is an excellent fit for our club and we are very much look forward to working with him.”
Born in Solihull, the 44-year-old former defender served a number of clubs including Birmingham City, Stoke City, Southampton and West Bromwich Albion, making almost 400 appearances and scoring 19 goals in a playing career spanning 13 years.
After he finished playing, he studied for an Open University degree in social sciences before completing a master’s degree in leadership and emotional intelligence with Leeds Metropolitan University.
Before moving to Sweden in 2010, Potter was football development manager at the University of Hull, technical director for the Ghana women’s team at the 2007 World Cup and held coaching roles with the Combined Universities squad and Leeds Metropolitan University.
Potter will be joined at Brighton by former Clyde and Hamilton manager Billy Reid, who takes up the position of assistant head coach, Bjorn Hamberg, who linked up with Potter for the first time in his native Sweden, and becomes Albion’s first-team coach, and former Aberdeen and Peterhead player Kyle Macauley, who joins Albion as assistant head of recruitment, reporting to Paul Winstanley. Reid, Hamberg and Macauley all worked alongside Potter at both Ostersunds and Swansea City.
The Seagulls kick off the new Premier League season on Saturday 10 August with the fixtures due to be announced on Thursday 13 June.
