Arsenal youth coach leaves for senior head coach job | OneFootball

Former Arsenal youth player and recent academy coach Colin Kazim-Richards has taken up the head coach job at Crawley Town, where the Gunners have a youngster on loan.

Photo via Crawley Town

Colin Kazim-Richards has long had an association with the Arsenal academy, spending three years with the club as a youth player. But more recently, the former Turkey international had been working with the academy as a coach, confirming his return to the club in July 2024.

That spell is now at an end, with Kazim-Richards accepting an appointment as Crawley Town’s head coach, joining for the remainder of the 2025/26 season.

“Following a thorough and highly competitive recruitment process, Colin distinguished himself as an outstanding candidate,” club owner Raphael Khalili said.

“He is a natural leader with extensive experience in the dressing room, and we firmly believe he is the right person to guide the club forward at this important time.”

Photo via Crawley Town

Though Kazim-Richard’s initial contract is only a short one, his brief spell is of vital importance to the club.

With seven games remaining, Crawley are just one point clear of the League Two relegation zone, and a win for Barrow in their game in hand would cut that to zero points and a goal difference gap of four.

Arsenal loanee Louie Copley is also at the club to help out, but he’s had a couple of injury setbacks limiting him to just three appearances since his January move. He should be back in action soon, having returned to the training pitches already.

Photo via Crawley Town on Instagram

If Kazim-Richards and Copley can keep Crawley in League Two, the club will certainly have the Arsenal academy to thank. But nothing is guaranteed yet.

Kazim-Richards’ first game with Crawley will be at home to Gillingham on Saturday, March 28th at 15:00 GMT.