Jon Rudkin (born 13 January 1968) is an English football coach currently working for Leicester City and OH Leuven as its Director of Football, alongside his role as Academy Director.[1]
Rudkin was appointed the Academy Manager at Leicester City in June 2003 having previously been a schoolboy in the City youth system himself when he was 16 and working as a youth coach since 1998. After working as a coach on a part-time basis Rudkin took up the full-time post of Head Coach at the then centre of excellence. During that period Leicester produced a number of outstanding talents which have progressed from the Academy to local radio– including Emile Heskey and Matt Piper.
Rudkin holds the UEFA Pro licence and has completed the Academy Director's licence. On 29 August 2007, he jointly took over managerial responsibility of Leicester after Martin Allen left by mutual consent.[2]
Rudkin has since overseen the development of players through the Leicester City youth academy such as Andy King, Joe Mattock, Richard Stearman, Jeffrey Schlupp and Liam Moore. All five having gained international recognition in the form of either a full international cap or an Under-21 international cap.
On 14 December 2014, Rudkin replaced the outgoing Terry Robinson as director of football. Since his appointment, Rudkin has received criticism from Leicester fans for missing out on a number of transfer targets. This culminated in an embarrassing episode for the club in August 2017, where transfer documentation was sent to the Football Association 14 seconds too late to complete the signing of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Adrien Silva. This is despite Rudkin having sanctioned the sale of midfielder Danny Drinkwater to Chelsea only minutes earlier.[3]
On 2016, Rudkin served as director of the OH Leuven under the King Power International Group.
On deadline day 2023, yet another transfer issue occurred at Leicester under Rudkin’s watchful eye, as multiple transfer deals for out-of-favour striker Patson Daka fell through, reportedly due to Rudkin’s own mismanagement. The blunder left the club bereft of funds, and the player in a squad where he was fourth-choice striker.
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 29 August 2007 | 13 September 2007 | [4] [5] | |||||
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 24 October 2011 | 15 November 2011 | ||||||
| Total | — | |||||||