Steve Holland: Former Chelsea and England assistant coach lands shock new management role

Former England assistant coach Steve Holland has been named the new manager of Yokohama F Marinos, the J.League side said on Tuesday.

Holland takes over from John Hutchison, who stepped in as interim coach when Harry Kewell left the club due to a run of poor results in July.

“Our challenge is to win the title again,” Holland told the club’s official website. “We will play aggressive attacking football.

“We want to build a team that can compete for the title with consistency and high competitiveness.”

Marinos finished ninth in the recently completed J.League season, 20 points adrift of champions Vissel Kobe. The club last won the title in 2022 under Australian coach Kevin Muscat.

The role is Holland’s first as a manager since a one-season spell in charge of Crewe Alexandra in the 2007-08 campaign, with the 54-year-old spending much of his subsequent career as an assistant.

After a spell at Chelsea, Holland linked up with Gareth Southgate to work with England’s under 21s before the pair took over the senior national team in 2016.

Alongside Southgate, he helped England to the final of the Euros in both 2021 and 2024 as well as to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia in 2018.

Additional reporting from Reuters