Martin Drury announced as new Huddersfield Town head coach

The assistant coach has been promoted to the big chair following his seven-game caretaker spell alongside Jon Stead

Huddersfield Town have announced Martin Drury as their new permanent head coach.

Drury arrived at the club as Liam Manning’s assistant in January and stepped up as co-interim head coach alongside Jon Stead in March during Manning’s absence on compassionate leave.

Manning’s subsequent decision to leave the club opened up the full-time vacancy, and after an interview process led by sporting director Chris Markham, the Terriers have decided to install Drury in the role on a permanent basis.

Stead will serve as Drury’s assistant head coach, with further information about the make-up of the coaching team yet to be confirmed but ‘more additions’ expected.

Markham said in a club statement: “We’re extremely happy to announce Martin Drury as our new head coach today.

“As I have said since my return to the club as sporting director in November, we are focused on delivering a style of winning football that Town fans can get behind and enjoy.

“With our owner Kevin Nagle and chief operating officer David Threlfall-Sykes, we approached this appointment with a clear focus on identifying a head coach whose playing style, energy, and leadership aligned with the football identity we want to represent Huddersfield Town.

“We’ve had the benefit of seeing Martin’s work for the last six months. It was immediately clear why he has a reputation across football as an elite coach, but his leadership over the final seven games in difficult circumstances was impressive too.

“Even with this in mind, we quickly decided that we had to run a full process to identify our next head coach. Martin entered that process alongside other potentials with very different experiences and profiles and, having interviewed several — including Martin — over the past three weeks, he was the unanimous choice.

“We believe that Martin can be a successful head coach at Huddersfield Town based on the way he works and his alignment with us on what needs to be delivered for the club’s fans. We will ensure that Martin gets the support he needs to be successful, and that starts with Jon’s appointment as assistant.

“Although their working relationship only started in January, there is a natural synergy between Martin and Jon in terms of their coaching and their personalities. Martin led the day-to-day when they took charge of the side in March, but he would be the first to tell you that Jon’s insight, counsel and expertise were invaluable to him.

“There will be more additions to Martin’s coaching team over the coming weeks, as the staff around him will be integral to his success.”

We Are Terriers reaction

“I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition.”

Those were the words of John Lennon at the Beatles’ farewell rooftop concert, not Martin Drury and Jon Stead — but the sentiment was one Huddersfield Town had to ponder when deciding whether to give one of their caretaker bosses the gig full-time. Drury always felt like the more serious candidate of the two.

His press conferences and demeanour during his seven games as co-interim manager projected the image of a coach who felt he had completed his internships under respected managers and big clubs — most notably alongside Carlos Corberan at West Brom and Valencia, plus stints at Manchester United and Brentford — and was now ready to step into the big chair on a permanent basis.

Had Drury not landed this job, we suspect he would have been looking for a management opportunity elsewhere. The question now is whether he is the right appointment for Huddersfield Town in 2026.