Jack Wilshere: Arsenal legend states big ambition after landing Luton manager's job | OneFootball

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Evening Standard

·13 October 2025

Jack Wilshere: Arsenal legend states big ambition after landing Luton manager's job

Article image:Jack Wilshere: Arsenal legend states big ambition after landing Luton manager's job

Former Gunners stalwart vows to restore pride at Kenilworth Road after back-to-back relegations and tough start to new season

Article image:Jack Wilshere: Arsenal legend states big ambition after landing Luton manager's job

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Jack Wilshere says he is “hungry” for success at Luton after embarking on his first full-time senior managerial role.

The 33-year-old former Arsenal and England midfielder was on Monday morning unveiled as the new head coach at Kenilworth Road, where he first began his playing career by joining the centre of excellence aged eight.

Wilshere will be joined at Luton by assistant Chris Powell after being named as the replacement for Matt Bloomfield, who was sacked last week after only nine months in charge with the club - who suffered back-to-back relegations in the last two seasons - sitting 11th in League One.

“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” Wilshere said at his unveiling on Monday. “I’m really excited and really honoured.

“I don’t want people to think about my playing career. There’s many things I can use from my playing career, my experiences with different coaches, to try and make me the coach I am today, but the first week at Arsenal with the Under-18s, I quickly realised that this is something I’m going to have to get better at.

“You have to understand how a club works internally. I wanted to be clear that I didn’t want to step into a first team until I was ready to do that. I wanted to learn about it.”

Only four days after retiring as a player in July 2022, Wilshere was announced as Arsenal’s U18s head coach.

After leading them to the final of the prestigious FA Youth Cup in 2023, he left in October 2024 to join Norwich as first-team coach, working under Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Following the latter’s sacking, Wilshere became interim head coach in April until the end of last season but was not considered for the full-time job and departed Carrow Road, later linked with a potential return to Arsenal as U21s boss.

Wilshere described his appointment at Luton as a “full-circle moment”, adding: “I’ve got all those experiences as a player, but now this is a new Jack Wilshere who is hungry to achieve great things and so grateful to [Luton chief executive] Gary [Sweet] and the club for giving me this opportunity.

“I want to give the Luton fans a team they can be proud of, and the work to do that starts today.”

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