James Shan (born 28 October 1978) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the Under-21 Head Coach at the Aston Villa Academy.

Playing career

Shan spent a three-month period in the youth set-up at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

at the age of 15. Following his spell at Walsall, Shan dropped down into

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

as a youth player, attending trials at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. Shan also played for local club Paget Rangers.

Coaching career

Shan was a part of the coaching staff at his local club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, coaching various age groups in the club's academy set-up. In 2006, Shan joined the coaching staff of

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, working with the club's under-7s age group. He later worked as manager of the under-18, under-21 and under-23 sides, before joining the first-team coaching staff at the end of the 2017–18 season. In March 2019 he was appointed caretaker manager following the sacking of

Darren Moore Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the manager of club Port Vale. Moore was born in Birmingham, though represented Jamaica at international level. He ...

, leading the club to a 3–0 victory against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

in his first game in charge. In April 2019 it was announced that Shan would remain as caretaker manager until the end of the 2018–19 season. On 28 June 2019, Shan left West Bromwich Albion following

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split, later having successful spells with Karls ...

's appointment as head coach. On 6 December 2019, Shan was appointed as the interim manager of

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

in the

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

, leaving on 11 February 2020. The following day he was announced as new manager of

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. He was linked with a move to

following their appointment of

, and a day later he was relieved of his duties with Solihull Moors. He was appointed assistant manager of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

in July 2021. He left the club in August 2022. On 30 September 2022 it was announced by Darren Moore that Shan had joined Sheffield Wednesday as a member of their technical team. He left Sheffield Wednesday on 19 June 2023, with manager Darren Moore and the rest of his backroom staff. On 21 September 2023, he re-united with Moore once again as part of the new coaching staff at Championship side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. In March 2024, Shan joined

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

as assistant first-team coach. On 12 July 2024, Shan joined Aston Villa Academy as the Under-18 Head Coach. On 5 May 2025, Shan guided Aston Villa U18s to their fifth overall

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

title, with a 3–1 victory at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

against Manchester City U18s. On 17 May, Aston Villa U18s won a second final against Manchester City to be crowned U18 National Champions of the

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

. On 12 June 2025, Shan was promoted to Head Coach of Aston Villa's Under-21 squad, replacing the outgoing

Josep Gombau Josep Gombau Balague (born 5 June 1976) is a Spanish professional football manager. He is a former Barcelona youth team coach and has held multiple positions at the club's youth academy. Career Born in Amposta, Tarragona, Catalonia, Gombau w ...

Personal life

As of March 2019, Shan has three sons. Despite his mother and a number of family members being Birmingham City fans, Shan supported

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

growing up in Birmingham.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Aston Villa U18 * Professional U18 Development League ** National Champions: 2024–25 *

** Winners: 2024–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shan, James 1978 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers English football managers Paget Rangers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers Men's association football players not categorized by position Kidderminster Harriers F.C. managers Solihull Moors F.C. managers Rochdale A.F.C. non-playing staff English football coaches Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff