Frankie McAvoy (born 9 July 1967) is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach who is currently the assistant coach at

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club Heart of Midlothian. McAvoy was previously the head coach at club

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Playing career

McAvoy did not play football at a professional level, instead playing junior football locally for

Bellshill Athletic Bellshill Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. It plays in the . History The history of the club can be traced back as far as 1897 when Bellshill Athletic were founded as a Ju ...

, Thorniewood United,

Wishaw Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it formed ...

, Bellshill YM and Blantyre Victoria.

Coaching career

In 2003, McAvoy joined

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

as an academy coach. In 2005, McAvoy joined

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

in the same role, later becoming academy director. In 2013, following Alex Neil's appointment as manager, McAvoy became first team coach at Hamilton. In 2015, both McAvoy and Neil moved to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, with McAvoy once again acting as first team coach. In July 2017, the pair moved to

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

. Following the dismissal of Neil on 21 March 2021, McAvoy was named as interim head coach of Preston until the end of the 2020–21 season. On 10 May 2021, McAvoy appointed head coach permanently, after winning five of his eight matches in interim charges. On 6 December 2021, McAvoy was dismissed by Preston despite a respectable record, winning fourteen league games out of his 33 in charge 2021–22 season. On 3 February 2022, McAvoy joined

side Heart of Midlothian as Academy Director, being given "a wide-ranging remit to oversee the youth system". McAvoy became Hearts head coach in June 2023, working with

Steven Naismith Steven John Naismith (born 14 September 1986) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is football development manager at Scottish club Heart of Midlothian. Naismith began his career with Kilmarnock in 2004. He spent four years with th ...

. McAvoy was given that job title as Naismith did not have a coaching licence needed to be the lead coach for matches in European competitions. In September 2023, a week after Hearts had been eliminated from the

Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

, Naismith was made head coach and McAvoy his assistant.

Managerial statistics

References

1967 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Scottish football managers Preston North End F.C. managers English Football League managers Bellshill Athletic F.C. players Thorniewood United F.C. players Wishaw F.C. players Blantyre Victoria F.C. players Association football coaches Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Hamilton Academical F.C. non-playing staff Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff Preston North End F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football players not categorized by position Heart of Midlothian F.C. non-playing staff {{Scotland-footy-bio-stub