Coventry City have expanded their recruitment department with a new full-time appointment to boost Chris Badlan’s staff.
The Sky Blues head of recruitment is currently assisted by Stuart Bentham, the club’s recruitment analyst who was already at City prior to Badlan’s appointment in May 2018.
The pair have been responsible for identifying a number of quality signings from the likes of loan stars Liam Walsh and Callum O’Hare last season, to permanent recruits such as Gustavo Hamer and Sam McCallum, to name just a few.
And with the club constantly looking to unearth new and exciting talent to join the hugely successful Academy and development squad that acts as a feeder to Mark Robins’s first team, a specialist for the 16-20 age groups has been added, with the appointment of Pete Wilding, who arrives with seven years of experience with former Premier League and now City’s Championship rivals Stoke City.
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Wilding, who was head of recruitment for 16-23s, left the Potters in August as part of a rejig of the club’s scouting department.
Joining the Sky Blues this week, he tweeted: “Delighted to start my new full time role as 16-20s recruitment coordinator at Coventry City Football Club today.”
City have been active in the younger age group just this January when they signed 18-year-old left-back Josh Reid from Scottish Premier side Ross County, while also drafting in 20-year-old striker Fabio Tavares from League One Rochdale.
The 52-year-old Wilding is a former Shrewsbury Town midfielder.
While not one of the big names in the Shrewsbury squad, the hometown player endeared himself to Shrewsbury fans with his dependable, workmanlike performances.
Arguably Wilding’s finest season was the 2002-03 season. In the FA Cup third round, Shrewsbury famously defeated Everton 2–1 and while Nigel Jemson grabbed most of the headlines by scoring both goals, Wilding had a superb game, completely marking Wayne Rooney out of the game.
