Leicester appoint McCarron as sporting director

Leicester have appointed James McCarron from the City Group as their new sporting director as part of a restructure of the club's leadership.

The former Lommel sporting director will join at the end of the month in the newly created position at the Foxes.

He was at the King Power Stadium to watch Leicester's 2-0 defeat by Norwich on Saturday which left them third from bottom of the Championship.

Fans protested against the running of the club before the game, which was their fourth straight home defeat, and they are winless in nine league matches.

McCarron, who was director of player development at City Group, had also worked at Sunderland as head of performance and the Premier League as elite performance manager.

He was at Belgium club Lommel, another side under the umbrella of Manchester City's owners, between 2021 and 2025.

He will oversee the men's performance and player trading and will report to current director of football Jon Rudkin, who is becoming chief football officer.

Finance director Kevin Davies is also named the club's new chief executive - a role the Foxes had been looking to fill since Susan Whelan's departure in October.

Davies joined the Foxes in 2023 and has been credited with steadying the ship at the King Power Stadium. He represented the club in their profit and sustainability hearings with the Premier League.

Leicester were docked six points last month for breaching financial regulations but Davies' work in making the club more compliant to the rules is believed to have helped knock points off the final punishment.

The club have appealed against the deduction and their PSR concerns should be over once the outcome is known.

The penalty dropped the Foxes into relegation danger and they are now a point from safety, 10 years after winning the Premier League.

"As we move into a new chapter in the Leicester City story, we want to build a leadership structure that best reflects the demands of the modern game and the specialisms necessary for us to excel in an increasingly competitive environment," said Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha., external

"Kevin has been a powerful, stabilising force behind the scenes during a difficult period of adjustment for the club and has demonstrated the skills to lead, develop and align our key business functions and the overall strategy that guides them.

"Jon's knowledge of the club, its football culture and the wider football landscape is extensive and complements those skills in a way that sets us up strongly for this next phase of the club's growth."