Former Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen has been appointed as Stockport County’s director of football methodology.
The 62-year-old Dutchman will work alongside the club’s first-team staff and academy as part of the League One outfit’s desire to build an “elite football department”.
Meulensteen’s vast experience has been heralded by Stockport’s new sporting director Damien Allen as the club has undergone significant changes this summer.
“This appointment represents another important step in delivering our long-term vision, reinforcing our commitment to creating an elite football department and developing players and coaches capable of competing at the highest levels of the game,” Allen told the club’s website, external.
Meulensteen worked for six years at Manchester United as a coach under Sir Alex Ferguson, during which time they won seven major trophies, and then had a three-month spell as manager of Fulham.
Most recently, Meulensteen worked as assistant coach for Iraq at the World Cup alongside Australian Graham Arnold.
After losing the play-off final to Bolton Wanderers at Wembley, previous Stockport manager Dave Challinor left, and chief executive Simon Wilson departed for Sheffield Wednesday with Jim McNulty arriving from Rochdale to replace Challinor and Allen taking over as sporting director.
But McNulty is looking forward to be able to lean on Meulensteen in his new role.
“It is a genuine pleasure to be adding a coach of Rene Meulensteen’s calibre to our coaching team,” he said.
“Having operated at the very highest level, guided elite players, and gained invaluable experience across diverse footballing cultures in both domestic leagues and major international tournaments, he brings a tremendous breadth of wisdom and perspective to our coaching team.”