Graham Potter

Graham Potter
Potter as manager of Swansea City in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Graham Stephen Potter[1]
Date of birth (1975-05-20) 20 May 1975[1]
Place of birth Solihull, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Playing position Full back
Club information
Current team
 Swansea City (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993 Birmingham City 25 (2)
1993 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 3 (0)
1993–1996 Stoke City 45 (1)
1996–1997 Southampton 8 (0)
1997–2000 West Bromwich Albion 43 (0)
1997 → Northampton Town (loan) 3 (0)
1997–1998 → Northampton Town (loan) 1 (0)
1999 → Reading (loan) 4 (0)
2000–2003 York City 114 (5)
2003–2004 Boston United 12 (0)
2003 → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 5 (0)
2004–2005 Macclesfield Town 57 (8)
Total 320 (16)
National team
1996 England U21 1 (0)
Teams managed
2010–2018 Östersund
2018– Swansea City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Championship club Swansea City.

In a 13-year playing career, he made 307 appearances in the Football League, mainly as a full back, and also played in the Premier League for Southampton. At international level, he was capped once for England at under-21 level.

Potter started his managerial career in December 2010 with Swedish club Östersund. He won three promotions and the Svenska Cupen with Östersund, leading them to the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League knockout stage. He was appointed manager of Championship club Swansea City in June 2018.

Playing career

Born in Solihull, Potter began his career as a trainee at Birmingham City. After a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, he moved on to Stoke City, then to Southampton,[2] where he played in the 6–3 win over Manchester United in 1996.[3] While a Southampton player, he was capped for England U21s in a European Championships qualifier against Moldova.[4]

He joined West Bromwich Albion in 1997, and after three-and-a-half years, which included loan spells at Northampton Town and Reading, he signed for York City.[2]

Potter moved from York City to Boston United in the summer of 2003.[5] He joined Shrewsbury Town on loan in November 2003.[6] In 2004, he moved on a free transfer to Macclesfield Town, where he finished his senior playing career.[2]

Coaching and managerial career

Early career

With support from the Professional Footballers' Association, Potter graduated from the Open University in December 2005 with a degree in Social Sciences.[7] He worked as a football development manager for the University of Hull and as assistant coach for the England Universities Squad,[8] before joining Leeds Metropolitan University in a similar role; while at Leeds, he completed a master's in leadership and emotional intelligence.[9]

Östersund

In December 2010, Potter signed a three-year contract as coach of Östersund, who were then playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football.[10] Potter was offered the job after Graeme Jones, his friend and assistant to Roberto Martínez at Swansea City, recommended him to chairman Daniel Kindberg after their pre-season friendly with Swansea.[11]

In 2013, after two successive promotions, Potter extended his contract with the club for another three years.[12] On 27 October 2015, Östersund secured promotion to the Swedish top flight, Allsvenskan, for the first time in their history following a second place finish in the 2015 Superettan.[13] Östersund finished their debut season in eighth place, winning plaudits for their "slick passing game" and competing on a limited budget.[14][15]

On 13 April 2017, Potter's Östersund team won the Svenska Cupen, beating Norrköping 4–1 in the final.[16] This granted the team a place in the second qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League where they defeated Galatasaray 3–1 on aggregate.[17][18] In the third round they defeated Fola Esch 3–1 on aggregate[19] and in the play-offs they knocked out PAOK (3–3 on aggregate with more away goals), thus securing a historic entry into the Europa League group stage.[20][14] They finished second in their group, level on points with Athletic Bilbao.[21] Despite beating Arsenal 2–1 at the Emirates Stadium, they were eliminated from the competition after losing 4–2 on aggregate.[22] They finished their domestic league season in fifth place.[17]

Swansea City

Potter was appointed manager of newly relegated Championship club Swansea City on 11 June 2018 on a three-year contract.[23] He was joined by assistant manager Billy Reid and recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay.[23] On his appointment, Potter said "This is a Premier League club from the last seven years and it wants to try to get back, but get back in a way that there is an identity and an understanding of what they want to be on the pitch. That was the interesting thing for me – the chance to build something".[24]

He won his first match as Swansea boss with a 2–1 victory over Sheffield United, with goals from striker Oliver McBurnie and former Liverpool youngster Yan Dhanda.[25]

Managerial style

He's English, he's a modern coach, he has new ideas, he brings new ideas. [Swansea is] a team that takes care of how they move the ball... in their style, the goalkeeper and defenders build from the back. And for me it’s the feature that you could underline from Swansea [under Potter].

—Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa on facing Graham Potter's Swansea City team, 20 August 2018.[26]

Potter has been recognised for his "progressive" and "unconventional" coaching methods.[27][28] At Östersund, he encouraged his players and staff to engage in community activities, such as performing in theatre and music productions designed to take them out of their comfort zone.[28]

Potter describes his teams as "tactically flexible, attacking, [and] possession-based".[27] At Östersund, he deployed a flexible 3–5–2 formation centred on ball possession.[29][30] Former Celtic and Barcelona player Henrik Larsson commented on Potter's pattern of play, stating he "played all different kinds of systems, starting off a match one way, and then halfway through they started playing a different system, and then they ended up with a third system. And all the players knew exactly what they were doing."[31]

As a young coach, Potter studied the training methods of Roberto Martínez at Swansea and became inspired by his possession-based approach, along with the "holistic" training principles he observed during his travels to Spain.[32] Potter also cites the philosophy of Pep Guardiola and Raymond Verheijen’s periodisation model among his influences.[32]

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:[33]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 1992–93 First Division 182100040232
1993–94 First Division 7000002090
Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 1993–94 Third Division 3000101050
Stoke City 1993–94 First Division 3020000050
1994–95 First Division 1000100020
1995–96 First Division 411203050511
Southampton 1996–97 Premier League 80002000100
West Bromwich Albion 1996–97 First Division 6000000060
1997–98 First Division 5000000050
1998–99 First Division 220101000240
1999–2000 First Division 100002000120
Northampton Town (loan) 1997–98 Second Division 4000001050
Reading (loan) 1999–2000 Second Division 4000001050
York City 2000–01 Third Division 382412000443
2001–02 Third Division 372621000444
2002–03 Third Division 391201010431
Boston United 2003–04 Third Division 120101010150
Macclesfield Town 2003–04 Third Division 162000000162
2004–05 League Two 416301030486
Career total 3151622316019037219

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Trophy.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 6 October 2018
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
PWDLWin %
Östersund 23 December 2010 11 June 2018 249 127 60 62 051.0 [10][23][34]
Swansea City 11 June 2018 Present 13 4 5 4 030.8 [35]
Total 262 131 65 66 050.0 —

Honours

Manager

Östersund

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "Graham Potter". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Graham Potter". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Southampton 6–3 Manchester United". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
    Ogden, Mark (18 October 2013). "Flashback: Southampton 6 Manchester United 3 – Egil Ostenstad scores hat-trick as United humbled at The Dell". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "England's matches: The under-21s: 1990–2000". England Football Online. Chris Goodwin, Glen Isherwood & Peter Young. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Boston sign Potter". BBC Sport. 8 July 2003. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Shrews sign Potter on loan". BBC Sport. 22 November 2003. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Clarkson, Ian (18 January 2006). "Careers after football: Graham Potter used 'the old grey matter' to get his degree – thanks to the PFA!". Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011.
  8. ↑ "Hull football star scores national coaching role". University of Hull. 14 April 2008. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008.
  9. ↑ Taylor, Louise (2 April 2016). "From Solihull to sold-out stadiums and success in Sweden's Winter City". The Observer. London. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  10. 1 2 "En fantastisk Julklapp till ÖFK" [A fantastic Christmas present for ÖFK] (in Swedish). Östersunds FK. 23 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  11. ↑ McRae, Donald (12 February 2018). "Graham Potter: 'I've shown there's another path for English managers'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Graham Potter stannar i ÖFK" [Graham Potter is staying at ÖFK!]. SvenskaFans.com (in Swedish). 6 November 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Käck, Andreas; Bohman, Per (27 October 2015). "Östersund klart för spel i allsvenskan" [Östersund will be playing in the Allsvenskan]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Stockholm. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  14. 1 2 Dawkes, Phil; Kirrane, Kevin (14 February 2018). "Ostersunds FK: Rise of Swedish club under English manager Graham Potter". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "Swansea City appoint Graham Potter as manager after agreeing compensation with Ostersunds FK". The Independent. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Östersunds FK historiska cupmästare" [Östersunds FK historic cup champion] (in Swedish). Svensk Elitfotboll. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  17. 1 2 Dutt, Sujay (13 December 2017). "What makes Galatasaray's conquerors Östersund special?". UEFA. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  18. ↑ Dutton, James (21 July 2017). "Galatasaray 1–1 Ostersunds (agg 1–3): Graham Potter's side dump Turkish giants out of Europa League". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  19. ↑ "Fola 1–2 Östersund". UEFA. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "Östersund 2–0 PAOK". UEFA. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Athletic Bilbao 1–0 Ostersunds FK". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  22. ↑ Begley, Emlyn (22 February 2018). "Arsenal 1–2 Ostersunds FK". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  23. 1 2 3 "Graham Potter named new Swansea City manager". BBC Sport. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  24. ↑ Gwilym, Andrew (13 June 2018). "Graham Potter's methods uncovered: why humanity will replace the fear that's crippled Swansea City". WalesOnline. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  25. ↑ "Sheffield United 1–2 Swansea City". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Gwilym, Andrew (20 August 2018). "Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa lifts lid on his talks with Swansea City, his fascinating take on their style and his views on Graham Potter". Wales Online. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  27. 1 2 Cole, Sean (12 February 2018). "The remarkable story of Graham Potter – the English coach plotting Arsenal's downfall". i. London. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  28. 1 2 Reckmann, Thomas; Jakerson, Minka; Jonsson-Hay, Andreas (12 February 2018). "The Comfort Zone: the unconventional methods of Östersund's Graham Potter – video". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  29. ↑ Nelson, Fraser (23 February 2018). "The secret of Östersund, the tiny Swedish team who beat Arsenal". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  30. ↑ Young, Henry (2 November 2017). "Östersunds FK: How football's 'Culture' club wins with the help of Swan Lake performances". CNN. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  31. ↑ Ostlere, Lawrence (14 February 2018). "'Playing Arsenal is like Christmas': How Graham Potter transformed Ostersund and inspired Sweden's north". The Independent. London. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  32. 1 2 Bachner, Noa (14 September 2017). "Potters förvandling: Från mupp till geni". Expressen. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  33. ↑ Graham Potter at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  34. ↑ "Östersunds FK: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  35. ↑ "Managers: Graham Potter". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  36. ↑ "Division 1: 2012: Norra: Tables". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  37. ↑ "Division 2: 2011: Norrland: Tables". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  38. ↑ "Superettan: 2015: Tables". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  39. ↑ "Fotbollsgalan 2016 – här är alla priser" [Football gala 2016 – here are all prizes] (in Swedish). SVT. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  40. ↑ "Här är alla vinnare på Fotbollsgalan" [Here are all the winners of the football gala] (in Swedish). SVT. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  41. ↑ "Fakta: Alla vinnare på Idrottsgalan" [Facts: All winners of the sports gala] (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
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