| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 October 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Bordesley Green, England [1] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Aston Villa (U21 Head Coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Walsall | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Paget Rangers | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014–2018 | West Bromwich Albion U23 | ||
| 2019 | West Bromwich Albion (caretaker) | ||
| 2019–2020 | Kidderminster Harriers (interim) | ||
| 2020–2021 | Solihull Moors | ||
| 2024–2025 | Aston Villa U18 | ||
| 2025– | Aston Villa U21 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Shan (born 28 October 1978) is an English football coach who is the Under-21 Head Coach at the Aston Villa Academy.
Shan spent a three-month period in the youth set-up at Walsall at the age of 15. Following his spell at Walsall, Shan dropped down into non-league as a youth player, attending trials at Torquay United and Sheffield Wednesday. [2] Shan also played for local club Paget Rangers. [3]
Shan was a part of the coaching staff at his local club Birmingham City, coaching various age groups in the club's academy set-up. [1]
In 2006, Shan joined the coaching staff of West Bromwich Albion, working with the club's under-7s age group. [4] He later worked as manager of the under-18, under-21 and under-23 sides, [5] [6] before joining the first-team coaching staff at the end of the 2017–18 season. [4] [7] [8] In March 2019 he was appointed caretaker manager following the sacking of Darren Moore, [9] leading the club to a 3–0 victory against Swansea City in his first game in charge. [10] In April 2019 it was announced that Shan would remain as caretaker manager until the end of the 2018–19 season. [11]
On 28 June 2019, Shan left West Bromwich Albion following Slaven Bilić's appointment as head coach. [12]
On 6 December 2019, Shan was appointed as the interim manager of Kidderminster Harriers in the National League North, [13] leaving on 11 February 2020. [14] The following day he was announced as new manager of Solihull Moors of the National League. [15] He was linked with a move to Sheffield Wednesday following their appointment of Darren Moore, [16] and a day later he was relieved of his duties with Solihull Moors. [17]
He was appointed assistant manager of Rochdale in July 2021. [18] He left the club in August 2022. [19]
On 30 September 2022 it was announced by Darren Moore that Shan had joined Sheffield Wednesday as a member of their technical team. [20] He left Sheffield Wednesday on 19 June 2023, with manager Darren Moore and the rest of his backroom staff. [21]
On 21 September 2023, he re-united with Moore once again as part of the new coaching staff at Championship side Huddersfield Town. [22]
In March 2024, Shan joined Swindon Town as assistant first-team coach. [23]
On 12 July 2024, Shan joined Aston Villa Academy as the Under-18 Head Coach. [24] On 5 May 2025, Shan guided Aston Villa U18s to their fifth overall FA Youth Cup title, with a 3–1 victory at Villa Park against Manchester City U18s. [25] [26] On 17 May, Aston Villa U18s won a second final against Manchester City to be crowned U18 National Champions of the Professional Development League. [27]
On 12 June 2025, Shan was promoted to Head Coach of Aston Villa's Under-21 squad, replacing the outgoing Josep Gombau. [28]
As of March 2019, Shan has three sons. [9] Despite his mother and a number of family members being Birmingham City fans, Shan supported Liverpool growing up in Birmingham. [29]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| West Bromwich Albion (caretaker) | 9 March 2019 | 28 June 2019 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 58.33 | [30] |
| Kidderminster Harriers (interim) | 6 December 2019 | 11 February 2020 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 27.27 | [31] |
| Solihull Moors | 12 February 2020 | 10 March 2021 | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 37.50 | [32] |
| Career total | 55 | 22 | 10 | 23 | 40.00 | — | ||
Aston Villa U18