Aluko gets first management role as he joins Ipswich Town backroom staff as first team coach

FORMER Super Eagles winger Sone Aluko as a member of the backroom coaching staff at newly promoted English Premier League side Ipswich Town that will see him taking training sessions for the first team.

Omatsone Folarin Aluko, 35, played for the Nigerian senior national team briefly after playing for England’s youth team. He scored two goals in seven games for the Super Eagles but missed out on becoming a member the 2013 African Cup of Nations winning squad after having to pull out at the last minute due to an injury.

Aluko hung up his boots at the end of last season, scoring four goals and providing two assists in 62 appearances over four years for The Tractor Boys. He will now join Kieran McKenna’s coaching team as first team coach, while David Martin has joined in a role that will see him assist in goalkeeper development throughout the Academy pathway.

“It is a real privilege to start the next phase of my career by joining the first-team coaching staff here at the club. Learning from the manager and all the coaching staff here is a fantastic opportunity for me. It is a great time to be at Ipswich and I’m really looking forward to helping the squad continue to learn and take on the challenge of the Premier League,” Aluko said.

Mr McKenna added: “We’re delighted to add Sone to our coaching team. His work ethic and values have been important for the club over the last few years and we know he will continue to bring those qualities to his new role. Sone has strong relationships with players and staff at the club and he will be a big addition for us.

"He’s one of the best people I’ve met in football. His emotional intelligence, his empathy, his selflessness for a fantastic football player is absolutely off the scale. The way that he’s helped me, the staff and the other leaders to manage the group, the way he’s supported his team-mates, the way he’s put the group before himself on so many occasions, has been absolutely massive for us."

Aluko’s older sister, Eniola, played for England 102 times at full international level, before retiring in 2020. Sone's playing career that included stints at Glasgow Rangers, Hull City, Fulham and Reading and he is one of 10 Ipswich Town players to start a bespoke Uefa B coaching course provided by the Professional Footballers Association last year and spent a lot of last season helping the analysis team.