We’re absolutely delighted to announce the appointment of Glenn Whelan as the club’s new Head Coach.

The former Republic of Ireland international joins the club following an extensive playing career at the highest level of the game, alongside a growing and highly respected coaching career which has seen him work across club and international football.

Glenn enjoyed a distinguished playing career spanning more than 20 years, making over 700 senior appearances and earning 91 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team. A combative and intelligent midfielder, he is perhaps best known for his nine-year spell with Stoke City, where he made more than 300 appearances in the English Premier League and helped the club reach the 2011 FA Cup Final.

Beginning his career with Manchester City, Glenn also enjoyed spells with Bury, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Heart of Midlothian, Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers before moving into coaching following his retirement from playing in 2023.

On the international stage, Glenn represented the Republic of Ireland at both UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016, playing under managers Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O’Neill respectively. His experience of competing at major international tournaments adds further top-level pedigree to his football background.

Since transitioning into coaching, Glenn has quickly built an impressive CV. He began his coaching journey at Bristol Rovers, initially combining a playing role with coaching responsibilities before moving into a full-time first-team coaching position where he helped to oversee the club’s promotion back to English League One.

Glenn has also worked within the Republic of Ireland national team setup, joining the senior international coaching staff under former teammate John O’Shea during his interim spell in charge of the national side. Prior to that, he also spent time working within Ireland’s youth international programme at Under-16 level.

Most recently, Glenn was part of the coaching staff at Wigan Athletic, working as Assistant Manager alongside Shaun Maloney and later Ryan Lowe. During his spell at the club, he also stepped into interim first-team responsibilities following managerial changes, further adding to his growing coaching experience.

Glenn now arrives here in West Lothian ready to take the next step in his coaching career as he takes charge of the team ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

Speaking after his appointment, Whelan said: “I’m delighted to have been given this opportunity as Head Coach of Livingston, something I’m incredibly proud of, and I will give my all for the club moving forward.

Sporting Director David Martindale added: “I’m delighted to bring Glenn in as our new Head Coach. I know it’s taken a little bit of time, but we needed to make sure we got the right fit for the club, and we feel we’ve done that.

“There was a huge amount of interest, and it wasn’t an easy decision. However, after detailed interviews, Glenn came across incredibly well, and we all feel there is real alignment between how Glenn approaches the game and how we want to do things ourselves.

“He had a top playing career and has done the hard yards at several clubs, learning the game from a coach’s point of view. He has also had spells in charge as interim manager at Wigan and within the coaching set-up at Republic of Ireland.

“His beliefs and values align very well with ours, and we are delighted to give him this opportunity — and equally delighted that he has accepted it.

“To have played close to 100 games for his country and over 300 games in the EPL shows that we are bringing in an elite mindset and an individual with a real winning mentality.”

We’ll bring you an exclusive sit down interview with Glenn once he and the playing squad report back for pre-season shortly.

Everyone at Livingston FC would like to warmly welcome Glenn and wishes him every success in his new role.

Share this: