Six years ago interim manager was working for a charity in south London. On Saturday he leads Chelsea out at the FA Cup final
A
s meteoric rises go, Calum McFarlane’s takes some beating. Six years after he and his assistants Harry Hudson and Dan Hogan were working for a south London charity that provides football and education for disadvantaged children, they will lead out Chelsea to face Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
There have been accusations of cronyism given they have connections to Joe Shields, Chelsea’s co‑head of recruitment, that go back years, to when McFarlane, Hudson and Hogan were at the charity, the Kinetic Foundation, or beyond. But James Fotheringham, Kinetic’s co-founder, is dismissive of that.
“The narrative is of people being given an unfair opportunity,” he says of a backlash that has led to abusive messages being posted on Kinetic’s social media sites since McFarlane was appointed as Chelsea’s interim manager for the second time this season. “Calum did the hard yards at City, Southampton and Chelsea and has got seasons under his belt to get to that position. I think if anyone gets thrown into a six-game environment, you bring someone who you’ve been on the touchline with for 300 games and who knows how you work … That’s the truth of the situation Calum’s in.”
