ABSTRACT
After a long career in professional football, playing nearly 600 games for Walsall, Hereford United, Leyton Orient, Sheffield Wednesday, and Port Vale, Dean started his career in coaching after retiring in 2005. Starting out as a youth coach and then assistant manager at Leyton Orient, followed by the head of youth role at Walsall FC, Dean then moved into a managerial role with Walsall FC, who were in the third tier of the English football league. Reflecting his level of achievement with Walsall, Dean led the team to the final of the League Trophy and, at the time of his move to become head coach of Brentford FC in 2015, was the fourth longest-serving manager in the English football league. After successfully guiding Brentford to tenth then ninth placed finishes in the Championship, the tier below the Premier League, Dean then moved on to become head coach at another Championship – and recent Premier League – club, Aston Villa FC, in October 2018.
