Les Reed to leave role as FA technical director, replaced by John McDermott

(Reuters) - Les Reed will step down as the Football Association's technical director at the end of the year and will be replaced by his assistant John McDermott, English football's governing body said on Tuesday.

In his two-year spell with the FA, Reed worked with England's senior, under-21 and development teams and developed a pathway for emerging talents coming through the national football centre at St. George's Park.

"Les has led the technical division, the largest team we have, through an extremely difficult period for all caused by the global pandemic," FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said in a statement https://www.thefa.com/news/2020/oct/06/john-mcdermott-les-reed-061020.

"He has restructured and redistributed resources in a way that protects our development pathways, focusing activity to give us the best possible competitive advantage.

"Les offers high-level counsel on almost any issue and will be missed but has put in place a strong successor in John McDermott."

McDermott will step up from his position of assistant technical director, having joined the FA from Tottenham Hotspur in March.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)