Ben Garner

Ben Garner (born 19 May 1980) is an English professional football coach who was most recently manager of Charlton Athletic.

Whilst completing the UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, he was mentored by then Chelsea manager José Mourinho. Previously, Garner was the assistant head coach at West Bromwich Albion. and first team coach at Crystal Palace. Before managing Bristol Rovers, he was assistant head coach at ATK in the Indian Super League. Garner began coaching at a young age following a serious injury with the original motivation to coach being he didn't feel young players were being coached well enough technically and tactically. Garner was also inspired by Terry Venables who "stood out from anything I had experienced previously".

Career

Crystal Palace

Garner began his professional coaching career at Crystal Palace in 2005 where he spent the next seven years as youth coach at the Academy. Initially appointed as head coach of the under-11 team, he progressed through the age groups to become head coach of the under-18 team. Garner set-up a full-time school programme in 2011. On 4 July 2012 Oasis Academy Shirley Park were crowned under-15 national champions with Garner stating 'they have won the cup by controlling games with possession football". Players he coached on this programme included Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

He was promoted to first team coach in the 2012–13 season by manager Ian Holloway. Palace finished the season in 5th place and after beating rivals Brighton in the play-off semi-final progressed to Wembley on 27 May 2013 where they were promoted to the Premier League as play-off winners beating Watford 1–0 after extra time. Garner remained in his role as first team coach for the next two seasons working under Holloway, Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock, and Alan Pardew. Palace retained their Premier League status for the first time in the club’s history in 2013–14 finishing in 11th place with then manager Tony Pulis earning the LMA Manager of the Year award. Palace went one better in 2014–15 finishing in 10th place.

Garner left Crystal Palace on 7 July 2015 by mutual consent. Former Crystal Palace player Peter Ramage spoke of his disappointment at Garner leaving the club. Chairman Stephen Parish predicated a bright future in the game for the Garner.

West Bromwich Albion

He was appointed as first team coach at West Bromwich Albion on 9 October 2015, where he was reunited with former manager Tony Pulis. On 26 September 2016, West Bromwich Albion promoted Garner to assistant head coach. At the end of the 2016–17 season West Bromwich Albion finished in 10th place. In January 2017, he was linked to the vacant manager's job at Nottingham Forest. Pulis has stated that Garner has the potential to become a manager in the future. Albion finished the 2016–17 season in 10th position in the Premier League.

Throughout his time at the club, Garner took charge of several fixtures including EFL trophy games, pre-season matches and the international friendly against Delhi Dynamos. Garner departed West Bromwich Albion in December 2017.

In 2018 Garner was reported to have turned down the opportunity to become manager of Bradford City due to a lack of assurances over control of the team. And in December 2018 former Bristol Rovers, Southampton, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and England player Rickie Lambert described Garner as "very organised, but imaginative, and had a great understanding of players" when suggesting him as the ideal candidate for the manager job at Bristol Rovers.

ATK

On 16 January 2019 he was appointed as assistant head coach under Steve Coppell for the rest of the season at Indian Super League club ATK.

Bristol Rovers

After Graham Coughlan’s departure from Bristol Rovers in December 2019, Garner was again interviewed for the vacancy and was appointed on 23 December 2019. In January 2020, Garner was granted extended leave from the club.

Following a 2-1 victory away at Lincoln City on 10 October 2020, Garner was named Manager of the Week by the EFL and the Football League paper. On 14 November 2020, Garner was relieved of his duties with the club following a 4–1 home defeat to Fleetwood Town.

Swindon Town

On 21 July 2021, Garner was appointed head coach of Swindon Town by new owner Clem Morfuni. At the time of Garner's appointment, the club only had seven players, Garner's newly implemented transfer policy focusing on the signings of younger players. Despite this difficult start to his time at the club, Garner guided Swindon to the play-offs in his first season in charge, finishing the season in sixth place. Facing Port Vale in the play-offs, Garner's Swindon side won the first leg 2–1 before losing the away leg 1–0, being defeated 6–5 on penalties.

Charlton Athletic

On 8 June 2022, Garner was appointed manager of Charlton Athletic on a three-year contract. On 5 December 2022, Garner was sacked with the team sitting in 17th place.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Ben
1980 births
Living people
English football managers
Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff
West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff
ATK (football club) non-playing staff
English expatriate sportspeople in India
Bristol Rovers F.C. managers
Swindon Town F.C. managers
Charlton Athletic F.C. managers
English Football League managers