Mark Kelly welcomes return of experienced Neil Sillett as head of Portsmouth Academy recruitment

Sillett’s Fratton Park arrival has been confirmed and succeeds Dave Wright as head of academy recruitment, after his departure to Brighton in December. 

The popular figure returns to the Blues having been the club’s physio in the 90s.

Sillett has a wealth of contacts in the game, after working as a scout for the likes of Scottish FA and most recently Aston Villa, as well as in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. 

He will head up recruitment from the ages of 14 and 18, with a team under him looking at those from under-seven to under-14 level.

While Wright’s previous remit also involved the the operational side of things, long-time employee Tanya Robbins has taken on that responsibility. 

And it allows Sillett to focus his time fully on bringing fledgling talents to Pompey.

Academy boss Kelly said: ‘Neil is great and he knows the club.

‘He’s had a wide amount of experience in a lot of areas.

‘He’s done quite a bit, been around the world and his last job was at Villa as a scout.

‘It’s great to have him around. His family have stayed locally and it was a good opportunity to get him in.

‘He’s starting to overview where we are, the groups and what is happening within the whole system.

‘Dave Wright had two hats, which was operation/ recruitment.

‘Now Tanya Robbins, who has been at the club a long time, has taken over the operations part of it.

‘She’s done a fantastic job because we’ve had three audits in four months – a financial audit, education audit and the main audit.

‘A lot of work has gone on and Tanya has done a fantastic job and we came through all that with flying colours.’

Pompey have also brought Sean O’Driscoll to the club as head of academy coaching and learning.