Former Leeds United captain handed first coaching role at Newcastle United after 2024 retirement

Former Leeds United midfielder and captain Liam Bridcutt has taken his first steps into coaching with a new role at Newcastle United’s academy as a sessional coach.

Bridcutt officially retired from playing in February of this year, penning an emotional goodbye after several months without a club. The combative midfielder last featured for Blackpool during the 2022/23 season but was released at the end of the campaign and had been without a club since.

The 35-year-old spoke of looking forward to the next chapter in his career and looks set to move into coaching, with the new role confirmed by Newcastle as part of an academy reshuffle earlier this week. Bridcutt will work with the Magpies’ academy set up in an understudy capacity, learning from interim under-21s head coach Jack Ross.

Bridcutt enjoyed a long playing career and stepped out onto the grass for 10 clubs after coming through the Chelsea academy without ever making an appearance. A large majority of the midfielder’s career was spent at Brighton and Hove Albion but two seasons at Elland Road saw him win the hearts of Leeds supporters.

Leeds signed Bridcutt on loan from Sunderland in November 2015 and he quickly became a central part of Steve Evans’ side, earning an extension to his temporary move the following January before being nominated for the club’s 2015/16 Player of the Season Award eventually won by Charlie Taylor.

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After becoming a permanent Leeds player, Bridcutt was handed the armband by head coach Garry Monk, succeeding the late Sol Bamba as club captain. The midfielder continued to play regularly but another managerial change saw Thomas Christiansen appointed in June 2017 and the role of club captain was handed to Liam Cooper.

Leeds were in a period of transition during the summer of 2017, with Andrea Radrizzani completing a full takeover in May after buying out 50 per cent of Massimo Cellino’s shares the prior January. Bridcutt moved to Nottingham Forest that same summer and later insisted he did not want to leave, but had to find more stability elsewhere.

“My first season at Leeds United was on loan, and I can’t speak highly enough of the club really,” Bridcutt told World Football Index back in 2020. “The fans and the atmosphere at Elland Road were excellent and you really feel the level of expectation when you are a Leeds United player, and it is something that really excited me. It was an easy decision to sign for the club.

“When I moved on to Nottingham Forest after Leeds United I did not want to leave the club, but the reason why I did was because of stability really. At the time I only had a year on my contract at Leeds and the club was not willing to extend my contract. They were in a transitional period in terms of ownership so they could not really commit to long term contacts.”

After a season at Nottingham Forest, Bridcutt dropped into League One, firstly with Bolton Wanderers and then Lincoln City. A season with Blackpool in League Two preceded his retirement. Overall, Bridcutt played more than 360 competitive games over a 16-year playing career.