Jack Wilshere has been announced as the manager of Luton, giving the former Arsenal and England midfielder his first permanent role leading a team. The 33-year-old had two games in caretaker charge of Norwich at the end of last season but was overlooked for that job and the summer vacancy at Plymouth.
Wilshere takes over from Matt Bloomfield, who was sacked last week with Luton mid-table in League One. The club were in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season but have suffered back-to-back relegations.
Wilshere was in Luton’s centre of excellence before joining Arsenal at the age of nine. “It’s a huge honour and a privilege to be named Luton Town manager,” he told the club’s website. “It feels like a full-circle moment for me. I was eight when I first came to Luton as a boy, so I guess you could say it’s fate that my first full-time club managerial position is at this club. I couldn’t be more delighted to be here.”
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Wilshere has worked as an academy coach at Arsenal and as the first-team coach under Johannes Hoff Thorup at Norwich since his retirement in July 2022. His first game will be at home to Mansfield on Saturday.
Chris Powell, who has extensive experience as a manager and coach, including with Charlton and England, has been appointed as Wilshere’s assistant.
Luton’s CEO, Gary Sweet, said of Wilshere’s links to the club: “That started as a very young boy in our youth system and has continued throughout his life, always living locally and with close friends who are long-term season ticket holders at Kenilworth Road. It was during his time training with our first team at The Brache in the summer of 2022 where he refamiliarised himself with the club, and realised the time was right to follow his coaching path.”
