Official! Liverpool appoint new sporting director
Liverpool have turned to a familiar face to take charge of the club's sporting operations.
Details: Liverpool have officially confirmed the appointment of Julian Ward as the club's new sporting director. Ward, who most recently worked as Fenway Sports Group's technical director, takes up the position with immediate effect.
The appointment completes Liverpool's search for a successor to Richard Hughes, who stepped down as sporting director earlier in September. Ward had emerged as the club's preferred internal candidate in recent days, and the process has now ended with his official return.
This will be Ward's second spell in the role. He previously succeeded Michael Edwards as Liverpool sporting director in 2022 and held the position during the 2022/23 season before leaving the club in the summer of 2023.
Ward returned to the Fenway Sports Group structure in June 2024 as technical director, working across football operations and player-development pathways. He will now move back into a Liverpool-specific role without any transitional period, with the club confirming that the appointment is effective immediately.
It is worth noting that Ward first joined Liverpool's recruitment and scouting structure in 2012. He later became loan pathways and football partnerships manager, then assistant sporting director, before being promoted to the top sporting role for the first time.
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Steven Perez
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