Newcastle United snap up former highly-regarded Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Derby coach
Former Pompey Academy coach Sam Hudson has landed a job in the Premier League just months after his Fratton Park departure
Newcastle United have snapped up the services of recently-departured Pompey academy coach Sam Hudson.
It has been confirmed that the Blues’ former lead professional development phase coach has swapped Fratton Park for St James’ Park following his decision to leave PO4 at the end of last season.
The highly-regarded ex-Derby and Aston Villa coach will take up the role of academy individual development coach at the Premier League side following his four-year stint on the south coast.
It’s understood that Hudson’s duties at the Toon will see him work with multiple age-groups at Newcastle’s academy base in Little Benton, which boasts state-of-the-art 4G artificial grass pitches, specialized training zones, and recently saw a planning application for a £1m upgrade approved.
Confirming the news on social media, Hudson wrote: ‘Delighted to announce my new role as Individual Development Coach @NUFC.
‘Looking forward to working my 14th season in the game at such a massive football club.’
All change at Pompey’s academy
Hudson arrived at Pompey from Villa’s academy in June 2022 to spearhead a new-look Blues youth set-up.
Appointed as assistant head coach, he arrived alongside Zesh Rehman in the aftermath of long-serving Liam Daish’s departure as under-18s boss, with the pair challenged with reinvigorating the club’s academy.
Following Danny Cowley’s dismissal as Pompey head coach in January 2023, Rehman stepped up to assist the first team and was eventually appointed permanently to John Mousinho’s backroom staff.
As a consequence, Hudson was promoted to the lead professional development phase coach role and spent just over three years in the job
Hudson’s departure at the end of the 2025-26 season came during a period of change within the Blues’ academy, with long-serving boss Greg Miller leaving in February to become Charlton’s new Academy manager.
Miller’s replacement as Pompey’s academy manager is James Barlow, who is a former Fratton Park season-ticket holder and ex-St John’s College pupil.
Under-18s assistant coach Piero Mingoia has stepped up to be Hudson’s successor.
Pompey finished 17th in the EFL Youth Alliance South last season. They were eliminated by Newcastle in the FA Youth Cup in December.