Eric Ramsay (football manager)

Eric Ramsay (born 14 February 1992) is a professional football coach and former player.

Born in England, he was briefly the captain for the Welsh national futsal team.

After a short period playing football in the Cymru Premier, Ramsay began his career as a youth coach at Swansea City before moving to Shrewsbury Town's academy in 2017. He worked at Chelsea's academy for two years and, aged 29, became an assistant first-team coach at Manchester United in 2021. He also had a brief coaching spell with the Wales national football team in 2023. In February 2024, he became the head coach of MLS club Minnesota United.

Early life
Born in Shrewsbury, England, Ramsay grew up in Llanfyllin, Wales, and attended Llanfyllin High School. After leaving the youth academy at The New Saints, Ramsay made 14 appearances as a player in the Cymru Premier for Welshpool Town, before deciding to attend university and focus on coaching. Ramsay was the captain of the Wales national futsal team for the UEFA Futsal Euro 2014 qualifying campaign, a sport he played throughout his time at Loughborough University.

Early career
In 2013, Ramsay graduated from Loughborough University with a first-class honours degree in Sport Science with Management. At Loughborough, Ramsay worked as an assistant coach alongside Kieran McKenna at the university's football team.

After graduating, Ramsay spent nearly four years as a Lead Professional Development Phase Coach at Premier League club Swansea City, coaching the club's under-21s and under-18s. He became academy manager at Shrewsbury Town in 2017, and subsequently worked with the club's first-team as interim manager then first-team coach. Ramsay joined Chelsea in 2019, where he coached the club's under-23s, and became the youngest British coach to achieve the UEFA Pro Licence.

Manchester United and Wales
In 2021, Ramsay joined Manchester United as a player development and set-piece coach under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In the following years, he became a more integral part of the club's coaching set-up, working under managers Ralf Rangnick and Erik ten Hag, winning the EFL Cup and reaching the FA Cup final with the latter in 2023. At United, Ramsay helped integrate foreign players such as Casemiro into the club, due to his ability to speak fluent Spanish and French.

Alongside his duties at Manchester United, Ramsay joined the Wales national football team as an assistant coach in March 2023. On Ramsay's announcement, the Wales manager Rob Page said: "Eric is arguably one of the best young coaches in football at this moment in time". Six months later, he left his position at Wales to focus on Manchester United and his young family.

Minnesota United
On 22 February 2024, Ramsay was hired as the head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United shortly after the start of the regular season. He is the youngest permanent head coach in MLS history and signed a multi-year contract with the club. Ramsay's debut as head coach of Minnesota United saw a 2-0 home win vs LAFC on March 16th, 2024. Minnesota United made the club's best start to a Major League Soccer season in history under Ramsay, with the club topping the Western Conference after twelve games with 24 points.