Huddersfield Town announce Lee Grant as new manager: Career so far and reaction

The Terriers have moved for the Ipswich Town assistant ahead of the 2025/26 season

Huddersfield Town have appointed Lee Grant as their new manager.

The Ipswich Town coach and former goalkeeper has taken the reins at the John Smith’s Stadium with immediate effect on a three-year contract.

The Terriers have had that vacancy since Michael Duff was dismissed in March, with academy director Jon Worthington taking over in interim charge for the rest of the season.

Huddersfield Town chairman Kevin Nagle said in a club statement: “Having been through a full and complete recruitment process, we couldn’t be happier to appoint Lee as manager and are confident with the decision we have made.

“Each time I have met with Lee and discussed the club, he has presented detailed ideas, been passionate about the way he has described his way of playing football and shown a desire to succeed and take on this opportunity that propelled him beyond other candidates.

“Throughout our due diligence, it was clear how impressive Lee’s coaching work was, and his reputation couldn’t have been higher with everyone who has crossed his path. Playing his part in successful teams both on and off the pitch over the course of his career to date, that’s a habit we believe he will be well positioned to continue at Town.

“We will support Lee and work together to build a team to help us achieve our goals this season, and beyond. His values and ambition aligns with our own, and I look forward to seeing him lead our first team into another important campaign ahead.”

Grant added: “First and foremost, it’s an incredible honour to be manager of Huddersfield Town.

“This is an exciting time to be joining the club and there is so much potential and opportunity for us going forward, and I couldn’t be more motivated to play my part in that journey.

“I’d like to thank Chairman Kevin Nagle and CEO Jake Edwards for giving me their trust, and I hope to repay that with time as we head into the summer and season ahead.

“I have a clear idea of what I want my Town team to look like and how I want us to play. My priority is to not only win, but give our amazing supporters a side that they’re proud to represent them and excited to watch.

“Our goals and ambitions are clear, and there is much hard work that needs to take place in order to put us in a position to succeed. That process begins today.”

Lee Grant: Career so far

After a goalkeeping career largely spent in the Championship with Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, and Burnley, Grant secured a Premier League move to Stoke City and then signed for Manchester United.

He rarely played for United but was signed by Jose Mourinho to work with David De Gea with a potential future coaching role in mind.

This allowed Grant to begin laying the groundwork for a future managerial career, and he told The Athletic earlier this year that he didn’t let it go to waste.

He said: “I would sit with Paul Pogba and pick his brain. People used to see Paul in a certain light because he was a big character. I wanted to know: how would I handle Paul if I was a manager?

“So I’d ask him directly: ‘Paul, when I’m managing in a few years, how do I handle Paul Pogba? What do I do to get the best out of you?’. I remember having a similar conversation with Anthony Martial when he was upset about something.

“I spent time with Juan Mata, who had won the World Cup, the Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup — the lot. I wanted to know about Nemanja Matic, too. Why was Nemanja so respected in this dressing room? Why did Paul Pogba respect Nemanja so much? Why was it that some players looked up to Paul and felt they couldn’t criticise him, but Nemanja could?

“Honestly, I would be taking notes. Somebody on the outside might think: ‘But you didn’t play very much in those four years, you didn’t do a great deal’. No — I did a lot. That time was huge for me.”

That move into coaching did indeed come to pass, but not at Carrington. Instead, Grant followed colleague Kieran McKenna to Ipswich when the Northern Irishman made the move to League One.

Grant isn’t a goalkeeping coach, however. It’s less a case of poacher turned gamekeeper than goalkeeper turned poaching expert: Grant actually specialised in coaching Ipswich’s forwards.

He explained: “It takes in everything from defending in the first, second and third phase to attacking in the first, second and third phase.

“I’d like to think that, when it comes to shot selection, I can give the boys a bit of insight they wouldn’t ordinarily have had. But half of my work is talking to the forwards about defending, their back-to-goal work and out-of-possession game. [Shooting] is really only the final action of the third phase.

“My world now is, ‘What’s Liam Delap’s pressing angle? How’s Omari Hutchinson’s one-on-one dribbling?’. And it’s gone better than I could have dreamed.”

He added: “The longer I’m in coaching, the more I realise that players love it when you can help them. That is one of Kieran’s superpowers.

“If you have an answer for everything, if your detail is meticulous, if your execution on the grass is excellent and, on top of that, you have empathy, you communicate well and you are a good human, which is a major part of it, you quickly get respect.”

Ipswich’s rise from underperforming in League One despite heavy investment prior to McKenna’s arrival at the club will naturally resonate with Town — but under McKenna’s regime, the Tractor Boys pulled off back-to-back promotions into the Premier League.

McKenna himself sent his best to Grant, saying in Huddersfield’s announcement statement: “We wish Lee the very best with the next step in his career. Lee has been a big part of our success in recent seasons and has developed fantastically as a coach during his time here. He deserves this managerial opportunity at Huddersfield.”

We Are Terriers reaction: What Lee Grant’s appointment means for Huddersfield Town

Grant has made no secret of his aspirations of getting into management himself at some point. He’s now got that chance with Huddersfield Town.