Chelsea Academy Coach Jon Harley takes Portsmouth first-team assistant job

Former Chelsea youth prospect, player, and later Academy coach Jon Harley has left the club today to become first-team assistant to new-ish head coach John Mousinho (that’s an “s” not an “r”) at League One (third division) Portsmouth.

Harley, who completed his UEFA Pro Licence certification alongside Mousinho last year, beat out “quite a few people” for the job and is the latest example of the Chelsea Academy developing not only players but coaching talents as well.

The 43-year-old had been coaching in the Academy for the past ten years, and had spent the last couple years as assistant to Andy Myers for the Development Squad (U21/U23) after holding a similar role with the U18s. Myers moved into the Loan department this season, with Mark Robinson coming in to take over the DevSquad.

Harley came up through the Chelsea Academy in the late ‘90s and would end up making 42 appearances for us before moving down the road to Fulham. His professional career would also take him to Sheffield United, Burnley, Watford, among others, before a spell at Portsmouth and his hometown Maidstone United closed out his playing days. He was already working part-time for us while playing for Maidstone and subsequently turned that into a full-time job.

Portsmouth began the season in great form and were top of League One after the first month. But those early promotion hopes were dashed by winning just one game from October to mid-January (and that’s without a World Cup break), which led to the coaching change. They are 12 points out of the last playoff spot at the moment, with 17 games left to play.

Best of luck to them and Coach Harley!