Watford FC is pleased to announce that Alan Knill, Matt Prestridge and Mike Allen have joined the club as part of new Head Coach Chris Wilder’s backroom team.
The trio link up with Wilder having worked with the 55-year-old throughout his managerial career, most recently at fellow Sky Bet Championship side Middlesbrough, and they will each look to add their expertise to the existing set-up at Vicarage Road.
Former Wales international Knill joins as Assistant Head Coach, having been involved in professional football - as a player then a coach - for more than four decades. The former defender featured for the likes of Halifax Town, Swansea City, Bury and Scunthorpe United on the grass, making more than 500 appearances.
Knill, 58, made his first step into the coaching world as manager of Rotherham United in 2005, where he had called time on his playing days, before going on to take charge of former club Bury three years later where he would appoint Wilder as his assistant.
After Knill’s spells at the helm of Scunthorpe and Torquay United, he would be reunited with Wilder at Northampton Town in 2014, this time with the latter as manager. Together, they would guide the Cobblers to the League Two title in 2015/16.
Wilder and Knill would move on to Sheffield United in May 2016, eventually masterminding two promotions and a ninth-place finish in the Premier League, with Knill staying on to remain under Slaviša Jokanović and then Paul Heckingbottom when Wilder left Bramall Lane.
Three months prior to joining Wilder at Middlesbrough in November 2021, Knill took his place as part of the Wales national team’s backroom staff under former Hornet Robert Page, and he travelled to Qatar for the Dragons’ 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Prestridge, who joins the Golden Boys as a First-Team Coach, has worked with Wilder since his time at Northampton, also linking up with him at the Blades and Boro.
Born in Watford and having previously worked for the Hornets, the 31-year-old is a graduate of Loughborough University and specialises in sports science while also working on the pitch.
Finally, Allen arrives as Head Analyst following spells at Sheffield United and Middlesbrough in similar roles. The 39-year-old spent more than 16 years with the Blades before switching to join Wilder and co. at the Riverside in late 2021.
Welcome Alan, Matt and Mike!
