Championship side Sunderland have officially confirmed the appointment of former Rangers and QPR manager Mick Beale as their new Head Coach.
Beale has joined The Black Cats on a two-and-a-half-year deal which will keep him contracted at the Stadium of Light until the summer of 2026.
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The 43-year-old London-born coach replaces Tony Mowbray with the club sitting just outside of the top six and the playoff places in the Championship after back-to-back victories under the interim management of Mike Dodds before they were beaten by a goal to nil by Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon.
Former youth coach Dodds has now been promoted to Assistant Head Coach so will be Beale’s right-hand man in the Sunderland dugout moving forward.
Beale did not have a professional playing career but has been in charge of both Queens Park Rangers and Rangers since the beginning of last season.
He worked as a coach with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Sao Paulo before joining Steven Gerrard’s coaching staff at Ibrox in 2020. He moved with Gerrard to Aston Villa before leaving Villa Park to take on the main managerial role at QPR.
After an impressive start to his career at Loftus Road, he rejected a move to Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers but eventually prematurely departed anyway for a return to Scotland.
His underwhelming time in charge of the ‘Gers came to an end earlier this season after failing to win a trophy in the 2022/23 campaign and then losing three of their opening seven Premiership matches during this campaign.
His first game in charge of Sunderland will be their home game against Coventry City at the weekend with the ambitious north east club looking to build upon last season’s loss in the playoff semi-finals to eventual playoff winners Luton Town.
