Jeff Vetere (born 1966) is an English

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 ...

youth coach, scout and technical co-ordinator. He has also worked for the Premier League. Vetere is credited with an encyclopaedic knowledge of footballers and is fluent in several languages including Spanish, French and Italian.

Life and career

Vetere's playing career began as an apprentice at Luton Town where he later coached in the youth set-up before moving to Rushden & Diamonds where he was brought in by manager

Brian Talbot Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team. Talbot played in midfield for Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, ...

in 1997 and put in charge of the newly established youth academy. Vetere moved on to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

where his official role became overseas coordinator but day-to-day involvement included working with the first team. The full-back

Grant Basey Grant William Basey (born 30 November 1988) is an former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is the manager of VCD Athletic. Born in England, he represented Wales internationally at youth levels U17, U19 and U21, Playing care ...

, who broke into the first team in 2007 at the age of 19, has credited Vetere with his development.

Alan Curbishley Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...

had worked with Vetere at Charlton and brought him to West Ham United in January 2007. Vetere was snapped up by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

at the end of the 2007 season to work under the technical director,

Miguel Ángel Portugal Miguel Angel Portugal Vicario (born 28 November 1955) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and is the current manager of Bolivian club Guabirá. He totalled 66 games and four goals in La Liga for four clubs including R ...

, and the club's director of international football, the former

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

and Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid ...

. His role was to help the Spanish club scout and sign the best talents across the world. Vetere's final piece of business at Real Madrid was securing a deal for

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

U17 fullback Daniel Opare ahead of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in January 2008. Vetere was recruited from Real Madrid and appointed as

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

's technical co-ordinator in January 2008 to complete a continental-style management structure working to assist

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

. Vetere was appointed as chief scout of

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

by manager Gérard Houllier in November 2010. He later worked as international scout for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. He joined

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

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

as director of football in May 2017, and left the club in March 2018 when manager Steve Cotterill was dismissed with the team in the relegation zone. In September 2022, Vetere, a close friend of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

's managing director of football Fabio Paratici, joined him at Tottenham, taking on the role of a scout. Vetere left the club in February 2023 after he appeared to reveal on Colombian TV that Tottenham were interested in Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vetere, Jeff 1966 births Living people Luton Town F.C. non-playing staff Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Real Madrid CF non-playing staff Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff Fulham F.C. non-playing staff Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches Association football scouts