Wigan Athletic confirm two new additions to Shaun Maloney's backroom staff

Latics confirm two new additions to Shaun Maloney's backroom staff
Shaun Maloney confirms new members of his coaching team ahead of the 2024/25 Sky Bet League One campaign
Tom Huddlestone and Shadab Iftikhar arrive at the Brick Community Stadium as First Team Coaches

Wigan Athletic manager Shaun Maloney has bolstered his backroom staff with the appointments of Tom Huddlestone and Shadab Iftikhar.

Huddlestone and Iftikhar arrive at the Brick Community Stadium as First Team Coaches ahead of the 2024/25 Sky Bet League One campaign.

A former teammate of Wigan Athletic First Team Manager Shaun Maloney at Hull City, Huddlestone links up with Latics following two seasons with Premier League side Manchester United, where he was operating as Player-Coach for the Red Devils' U21s side.

The 37-year-old brings a wealth of experience to the Football Club, having made over 575 senior appearances for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County and Hull City during a long, successful 22-year playing career. The elegant former Premier League midfielder, who is a four-time England international, won the 2007/08 League Cup with Spurs and was a runner-up in the 2013/14 FA Cup Final with Hull.

He took his first steps into coaching in August 2022, starting an innovative Player-Coach role that was previously held by his ex-Hull City colleague Paul McShane. Working in cohesion with the other coaches at Carrington, Huddlestone has been a huge success in the past two seasons, influencing United's stars of the future both on and off the field with his mentorship and guidance.

He has been able to use his top-flight experience to enhance the professional development of United's young players, with his coaching and support even extending to the field, with Huddlestone occasionally donning his boots as one of five permitted over-age outfield players in the Premier League 2 and Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

Iftikhar joins Latics from Pakistan's Men's U20s, returning to the Football Club where it all started.

In his late teens, Iftikhar was fascinated with Roberto Martinez’s style of play at Latics and decided to study his method of play to therefore learn from the now Portugal boss. Iftikhar produced a dossier on how to beat Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, which ultimately impressed Martinez and led to him working as a voluntary opposition scout at Latics for two seasons.

Iftikhar followed the Spaniard to Everton before he fulfilled his managerial ambitions overseas with Mongolian side Bayangol FC and Samoan outfit Kiwi FC. The UEFA A licensed coach later made a huge commitment to manage in senior Scottish football, taking charge of Fort William.

The Lancashire native then linked up once again with his mentor Martinez, becoming part of his scouting staff for Belgium, and working alongside Latics boss Maloney.

Huddlestone and Iftikhar have now reunited with Maloney at Wigan Athletic and will get straight to work during Latics’ pre-season training camp in Hungary.

Commenting on his appointment, Tom Huddlestone said:

“I am very excited. I played with the Manager for a couple of seasons at Hull City, and to get this opportunity, I am very grateful and hopefully, I can bring a lot to the coaching staff.

“The last two years have been really educational from a coaching standpoint. It’s given me the ambition as coaching is something I want to do long term, and I’m grateful to have this opportunity at the beginning of my coaching journey.

“The first few days I’ve been here, everyone has been keen. The Manager has everyone’s full attention and everyone is believing what we are going after this year.

Commenting on his appointment, Shadab Iftikhar said:

“I am very excited and very grateful to the Gaffer for giving me the opportunity. I cannot wait to get started and hopefully, we can have a fantastic season. Wigan Athletic has always been close to my heart. I started here with Roberto Martinez a long, long time ago and I am really excited to be back and to be involved in the project.

“It’s an absolute honour to be working for this Football Club. The Gaffer has been a mentor to me, and I have learned a lot already from him, and I am very happy to working under such a top manager."

First-Team Manager Shaun Maloney added:

"I am delighted to welcome Tom and Shadab to the Football Club, who both join us with vastly different experiences. Tom has arrived following two seasons at Manchester United U21s and we also worked together at Hull as teammates.

"He is an extremely calm, but also very passionate coach and has been involved at the elite level for a long time which will help our younger players. I worked previously with Shadab at Belgium and he also worked with Roberto Martinez at Everton and Wigan and therefore understands the DNA of our Club. He most recently was Head Coach of the Pakistan U20s side and has an incredible work ethic and is extremely passionate about coaching.

"Both will be great additions to the coaching team."

Tom Huddlestone and Shadab Iftikhar join Shaun Maloney's backroom staff