Ipswich Town Under-18s coach Adem Atay leaves role for new job with Aston Villa

Ipswich Town Under-18s coach Adem Atay has left his position to join Premier League side Aston Villa.

Atay is leaving Suffolk to take over as Under-18 professional development coach at Villa Park.

The departing academy boss has enjoyed a successful tenure during his time at Portman Road, most recently leading his side to victory in the Professional Development League Cup.

His spell with Ipswich has seen players such as Cameron Humphreys and Tawanda Chirewa progress to first-team level, with the former earning minutes on the pitch in the final game of last season against Charlton.

Atay joins former Town Under-23s boss Gerard Nash in moving to Aston Villa.

Nash departed Portman Road last year to take on a role within the Republic of Ireland set-up, but will now take over as lead Under-18 professional development phase coach.

Former Blackburn Rovers coach Tony Carss will lead the club's Under-23s.

Mark Harrison, Academy Manager, said: “We are delighted that Tony, Gerrard and Adem are joining us after a thorough recruitment process.

“They will bring with them a wealth of experience in player development and their appointments will also strengthen our player development coaching strategy.

“This will allow us to support individual player development further as we will now have three outfield coaches at both Under-23 and Under-18 level.”