Last season's co-coach Des Buckingham has been granted permission to leave Wellington Phoenix after being approached to work at one of England's largest clubs. Wellington Phoenix are happy to announce that Des Buckingham has signed a contract with Stoke City and will be taking up a role within their U-23 coaching department. Buckingham first joined the club in 2015 as the goalkeeping coach before being promoted as an assistant coach, and then serving as interim co-coach and head coach in 2017. AdvertisementBuckingham returns to England after three years in New Zealand and whilst sad to depart Phoenix, remains excited about the opportunity ahead. "It was only a few years ago that [Phoenix] goalkeeping coach Jonathan Gould took up an amazing opportunity at West Bromwich Albion," said Dome, "so to see Des also working inside a Premier League club now is another feather in our cap."

Source: New Zealand Herald July 03, 2017 06:45 UTC