John Peacock Joins Derby County's Coaching Staff

John Peacock has left his coaching position at the Football Association to join Paul Clement’s coaching set-up at Derby County as First Team Coach.

John Peacock has left his coaching position at the Football Association to join Paul Clement’s coaching set-up at Derby County as First Team Coach.

In his time at The FA, Peacock led the England Under 17 side to two European Championship titles in 2010 and 2014.

He also managed over 100 games in UEFA competition, with a 69% win record.

Holding The FA Academy Director's Licence and UEFA Pro License, Peacock is a highly experienced coach.

Peacock, who is 59, is no stranger to Derby, having been the Rams’ Academy Director in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.

On his arrival, Peacock commented: “The last 25 years of my working life has been spent with The FA and Derby County.

“The chance to work once again at this fantastic club, which has an outstanding infrastructure and above all else highly passionate supporters and Board of Directors who have an ambition for success, meant the challenge of re-joining was an opportunity I couldn’t decline.

“It is always refreshing to see an English coach succeed. Furthermore it is even more difficult for this to happen abroad. In Paul Clement we have this person after his successful spells at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and, of course, Real Madrid. I was delighted when Paul offered me this opportunity to work with him in his role as the Head Coach of Derby County.

"I am really looking forward to the next chapter in my coaching career.”

Speaking about the appointment of Peacock to his coaching staff, Clement commented: “I am delighted to welcome John Peacock onto my coaching staff.

“He is an excellent coach and has a wealth of experience, having worked at the Football Association for a considerable amount of time.

“He is a key signing for me and I am really pleased that we have been able to attract such a highly-skilled coach to my backroom team.” 

Dan Ashworth, FA Technical Director, said: “We will sorely miss John and I can only thank him for his contribution to The FA and England, both as a coach and a coach educator.

“His record speaks for itself and Derby County have a fine coach to supplement the work of Paul Clement and the rest of his coaching team. On behalf of everyone The FA I would like to wish John well – he leaves behind a great legacy through his work.”

Peacock’s move to the iPro Stadium has brought the curtain down on his second spell working for The FA.

As a player, he spent seven seasons with Scunthorpe United, playing more than 200 league and cup games. His first coaching role was with Coventry City where he was a Football Development Officer.

Peacock's first spell at The FA, from 1990-1998, was spent as a Regional Director in the Midlands and during the intervening years Peacock was Academy Director at Derby where he helped develop numerous youngsters into first team players.

Following his return to the FA in 2002, he took up a number of key coaching roles: National Coach, Head of Coaching and England Under-17 Head Coach, as well as Head of Elite Senior Coach Development.

In May 2007, Peacock led England’s Under 17s to the Final of the European Championships where they lost narrowly to Spain. Peacock and the Under 17s then reached the Quarter Finals of the World Cup in Korea that summer.

Peacock then led England to glory in May 2010, when his side won the European Championship, beating Spain in the Final in Liechtenstein after a season which saw his side unbeaten throughout. They repeated that success in 2014 by again winning the tournament by defeating Holland on penalties following a 1-1 draw.