When Matt Crocker returned to Southampton as the club’s director of football operations in February 2020, he went on what proved a costly tour of their training ground.
Crocker, 48, had previously worked at Southampton between 2006-2013, overseeing the academy, but upon his return he was disappointed by what he saw.
Southampton quickly committed £1million ($1.25m) to upgrade parts of their Staplewood training base off the back of Crocker’s recommendations. Improvements included a new sports science and analysis office space, plus a rehabilitation and medical lab for the academy, women’s and girls’ programmes.
This is only a peek behind the curtain of what Crocker did during his second stint at Southampton, but it shows the kind of sporting director the US Soccer Federation is hiring.
The Athletic answers the key questions about his appointment…
Where did his career start?
Crocker never played football professionally. His first notable appointment was at Welsh club Cardiff City, where he spent six years between 1999-2005 as their academy manager.
He was given responsibility for transforming a relatively small youth programme into a fully-functioning academy, which meant he had the autonomy to oversee all elements of their youth system.
At academy level he took charge of…
