Former Luton, Gillingham, Hearts and Birmingham midfielder Olly Lee has announced his appointment as Town’s lead U18s coach.
Lee hung up his boots at the start of last year while with the Gills due to psoriatic arthritis having already been coaching in Tottenham’s academy for the last two and a half years while also running his Lee Football Academy, which is based at his alma mater, Brentwood School.
The 32-year-old has been full-time head coach of Tottenham’s U13s since July having previously been part-time with their U14s and before that their U13s.
"I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as U18 lead coach at Ipswich Town FC,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
"To get this opportunity almost exactly one year to the day that I had to retire from playing football is something I am extremely proud of. A lot of hard work has gone into getting to this position and I’m excited to start this new chapter in my coaching career!”
Lee, the son of former England, Charlton, Newcastle and West Ham midfielder Robert and brother of Wrexham’s Elliot, replaces Callum Tongue, who left the job in November for a recruitment role at Manchester United having only been at the club since March.
Sam Darlow had previously been in the role and left the club in July for Nottingham Forest, where he is coaching the U18s and U21s.
Darlow had succeeded the long-serving Adem Atay, who joined Aston Villa in July 2022, working with their U18s, a position the still locally-based former Blues academy midfielder opted to leave last month for personal reasons.