 Cathro withNewcastle United in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1986-07-11)11 July 1986 (age 39)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Dundee, Scotland | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Estoril (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| Forfar Athletic | |||
| Brechin City | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016–2017 | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| 2024– | Estoril | ||
Ian Cathro (born 11 July 1986) is a Scottishfootball coach and former player who is the head coach of PortuguesePrimeira Liga clubEstoril.
Cathro was previously an assistant coach atRio Ave,Valencia,Newcastle United andTottenham Hotspur, and was briefly thehead coach atScottish Premiership clubHearts.
Cathro played youth football forForfar Athletic andBrechin City.[2]
After working as a local youth coach inDundee, Cathro became the head ofDundee United's youth academy at the age of 22.[3] During his time with Dundee United, he also worked for theScottish Football Association's local youth programme.[3]Ryan Gauld has cited Cathro as one of the biggest influences on his career.[4][5]
In 2012, he became the assistant manager of Portuguese clubRio Ave.[3] In 2014, he followedNuno, his manager at Rio Ave, to Spanish clubValencia, where he also became assistant manager.[1][6] The two had first met at an SFA coaching course in Scotland in 2009.[1][6] He resigned his Valencia post on 11 June 2015.[7]
A fortnight later, he agreed to join Premier League sideNewcastle United as assistant toSteve McClaren, the recently appointed manager.[8] When McClaren was sacked by Newcastle United in March 2016 and replaced byRafa Benítez,[9] Cathro was thought highly enough of to be retained as assistant manager.[9]
Cathro was appointed head coach ofScottish Premiership clubHeart of Midlothian on 5 December 2016.[10] The appointment caused some debate within Scottish football.Kilmarnock playerKris Boyd questioned whether such a young manager, with limited playing experience, could command the respect of the squad.[11] Hearts performed poorly in the second half of the 2016–17 season, winning 5 of 22 league games after Cathro was appointed.[12] They fell to fifth place in the league and were knocked out of the2016–17 Scottish Cup by theirEdinburgh derby rivalsHibernian.[12] After Hearts failed to qualify from the2017–18 Scottish League Cup group stage,[13] Cathro was sacked.[12][14]Celtic managerBrendan Rodgers said that there appeared to be a "confused" approach at Hearts, with a mismatch between the style of play Cathro wanted to implement and the type of players signed by the club.[15][16] After Cathro left, Hearts interim managerJon Daly and playerCole Stockton claimed that the physical training under Cathro had lacked intensity.[17]
After almost a year out of football, Cathro was appointed first-team coach atWolverhampton Wanderers in June 2018, linking up again withNuno, who Cathro worked with in Portugal and Spain.[18]
On 3 July 2021, Cathro followed former-Wolves manager Nuno toTottenham Hotspur, after being appointed assistant head coach.[19]
Cathro again followed Nuno when in the summer of 2022 the later was appointed as manager of Saudi clubAl-Ittihad, with Cathro becoming First Team coach.[20]
In July 2024 he was appointed head coach of Portuguese clubEstoril.[21] After a "difficult initial three months in charge", he won the league's Manager of the Month award in February 2025.[22]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Heart of Midlothian | 5 December 2016 | 1 August 2017 | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 026.67 | [23][24] |
| Estoril | 1 July 2024 | Present | 48 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 033.33 | |
| Total | 78 | 24 | 22 | 32 | 030.77 | — | ||
Individual