Richard Beale (footballer)

Last updated
Richard Beale
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-05-22) 22 May 1979 (age 46)
Place of birth Solihull, England
Youth career
Port Vale
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
Solihull Borough
Redditch
Stafford Rangers
Managerial career
2014 Birmingham City (joint-caretaker)
2022 West Bromwich Albion (caretaker)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Richard Beale (born 22 May 1979) is an English football manager and former player who is currently the Head Coach of Aston Villa Under-18s. He has worked for the youth teams of Birmingham City, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion, and was caretaker manager at Birmingham and West Brom.

Contents

Career

Born in Solihull, Beale was an apprentice at Port Vale and later played non-League football for Solihull Borough, Redditch and Stafford Rangers. [1]

A UEFA Pro Licence holder since 2016, Beale has a sports science degree from Coventry University. He worked in Birmingham City's academy from 2003. [2] In November 2010, he was appointed in charge of the club's reserve team after holding the position on a caretaker basis. [1] Players whom he worked with included Nathan Redmond, Demarai Gray, Jack Butland and Jordon Mutch. [2]

In October 2014, Birmingham City sacked Lee Clark and put Beale and head scout Malcolm Crosby in caretaker charge. [3] The duo lost their two Championship games, including a record 8–0 home loss to AFC Bournemouth, before Gary Rowett was hired. [4]

In July 2019, after helping Birmingham City's under-23 team to second place in their league and a playoff final defeat on penalties to Leeds United, Beale moved to become under-18 manager at rivals Aston Villa. [2] He left seven months later for his hometown club Solihull Moors in the National League, as assistant to Jimmy Shan. [5]

Beale arrived at West Bromwich Albion in July 2021 to lead their under-23 team, before it was changed to under-21 across England in his second year. In October 2022, he was put in interim charge of the first team in the Championship after the sacking of Steve Bruce. [6] He won on his debut away to Reading and lost his two other games before Carlos Corberán was appointed. [7]

In June 2025, Beale departed West Bromwich Albion, and was rumoured to have agreed to become assistant manager to Noel Hunt at Reading in EFL League One. [8] However, he changed this decision when offered the role of Head Coach of Aston Villa U18s, following the youth team's league and cup double the previous season and the promotion of former colleague Jimmy Shan to leader of the U21s. [9] [10] On 14 August, he was announced as Under-18s Lead Coach. [11]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 24 October 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamFromToRecordRef.
PWDLWin %
Birmingham City (joint-caretaker)20 October 201427 October 20142002000.00
West Bromwich Albion (caretaker)10 October 202224 October 20223102033.33 [12]
Total5104020.00

References

  1. 1 2 "Richard Beale takes on Birmingham City reserve team job". BBC Sport. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Dick, Brian (29 July 2019). "'Feeding the first team' This is what Aston Villa's latest coaching appointment brings". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  3. ↑ "Lee Clark: Birmingham City sack manager and his assistant". BBC Sport. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  4. ↑ Kendrick, Mat (26 October 2014). "Birmingham City 0 Bournemouth 8: Eight things we learned from Blues' worst ever home defeat". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  5. ↑ Ireland, Shane (6 March 2020). "Former Aston Villa coach lands new job at local side after Villa Park departure". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Cox, Lewis (11 October 2022). "Richard Beale 'more than happy' to step into West Brom interim role". Express & Star . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Cox, Lewis (25 October 2022). "Richard Beale believes in West Brom have quality to move out of mire". Shropshire Star . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  8. ↑ Preston, Andy (24 June 2025). "New assistant manager at Reading FC revealed". Reading Today. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  9. ↑ Veysey, Wayne (8 July 2025). "Exclusive: Richard Beale agrees to join Aston Villa after Reading U-turn". Football Insider. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "Jimmy Shan appointed Under-21 Head Coach". Aston Villa Football Club. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "Richard Beale appointed U18 Lead Coach". Aston Villa Football Club. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  12. ↑ Richard Beale management career statistics at Soccerbase
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