Alan Sheehan appointed Swansea head coach on permanent basis

Swansea have appointed Alan Sheehan as permanent head coach on a three-year contract following a successful spell in caretaker charge.

The 38-year-old has picked up 23 points from a possible 36 since taking over on a temporary basis in mid-February after the departure of Luke Williams.

Swansea were 17th in the Sky Bet Championship – eight points above the relegation zone – when Williams left the club on the back of seven defeats in nine matches.

Top-half finish

Ahead of Saturday’s season finale at home to Oxford, the 11th-placed Swans, whose five-match winning run was ended by Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Millwall, are guaranteed a top-half finish.

“It’s a privilege to be at this football club and now I’ve the honour of officially being head coach, it’s somewhat surreal,” Sheehan told Swansea’s website.

“There’s been a really good feeling around the place.

“I’ve spoken over the last couple of months about building something. I’ve been in talks with the ownership for a good while now. Now’s a really good time to move forward with it.”

Irishman Sheehan, a former coach with Luton and Southampton, joined Swansea in the summer of 2023 as an assistant to Michael Duff.

Caretaker boss

Following the sacking of Duff in December of that year, he secured 11 points from seven games in an initial stint as caretaker boss before the arrival of Williams in January 2024.

Swansea director of football Richard Montague said: “We’ve been very impressed with Alan since he’s taken over as caretaker head coach for a second time.

“It was important that we carried out a thorough and detailed process for appointing our new head coach.

“We had to get this decision right and we are very happy with the work that’s been done and confident that we’ve picked the best head coach to take our club to the next level.”