Birmingham City Lost One Of Their Key Figures To Championship Club

Birmingham City has lost a member of its backroom staff to Plymouth Argyle, led by Wayne Rooney.

Pete Shuttleworth, the Blues’ first-team coach, has officially left the club after Chris Davies was appointed as the new head coach, and has joined Plymouth as Rooney’s assistant manager.

The 45-year-old recently joined former Birmingham City coach John O’Shea at the Republic of Ireland camp to assist with preparations for international matches against Hungary and Portugal.

Shuttleworth has often followed Rooney about as the two worked together at DC United and Derby County before a brief stint at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. The two have reunited in the Championship.

On June 12, the Blues formally acknowledged Shuttleworth’s departure and wished him well in the future. Prior to his current position as coach, Shuttleworth worked as a scout for Birmingham in 2015 before transitioning to tactical analysis.

Rooney is thrilled to welcome one of his chosen colleagues to Plymouth as the English second-tier club seeks to advance after surviving relegation last season. Birmingham finished one point behind the Devon-based team previous season.

“He is an excellent coach with footballing ideals that match mine and Argyle’s but is also an outstanding motivator and has a real knowledge of tactical and performance analysis,” Rooney stated on the website of Plymouth.

“Ultimately, he is a great person who holds all the values that the football club and I look for and he will complement our current group of coaching staff perfectly.”

Neil Dewsnip, Argyle’s director of football, said: “We are delighted that Pete has agreed to join Argyle as Assistant Head Coach.

“He is a coach with whom Wayne has previously worked closely, and we believe he will improve our existing staff at Argyle.

“Plans are well underway for pre-season, and I can’t wait for all the players and staff to come back together at the start of July as we look ahead to next season.”