Ian Foster wished well by Steve Cooper and Rob Edwards at Plymouth Argyle

The Pilgrims' new boss has been head coach for England age group teams in the past, as was the case with Cooper and Edwards before their successful transition to club management

Steve Cooper and Rob Edwards have blazed a trail for young coaches to work for The Football Association as England age group managers and then make a successful transition to the club game at a very high level.

Both were in charge of Premier League sides until Cooper was recently fired by Nottingham Forest, but Edwards continues to work wonders at Luton Town. Ian Foster is now following a similar path to them after his appointment as Plymouth Argyle's head coach on a contract until the summer of 2027.

Father-of-one Foster has taken the plunge with the Pilgrims in the Championship after a six-month spell as the assistant to Liverpool and England legend Steven Gerrard at Saudi Professional League side Ettifaq FC.

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He said: "I only heard really positive things about the ownership, about the board, how they treat their staff, about the feel of the football club in terms of the culture and the environment, and how they make their staff and their wider families feel, which is really important to me.

"Having experienced it before, I know it's a really passionate football club with a wonderful fanbase. The opportunity to be a head coach in the Championship is not to be sniffed at for any coach and it just ticked every single box really for me."

Foster's CV includes leading England under-19s to victory when they won the 2022 European Championship finals in Slovakia.

Cooper and Edwards had similar backgrounds working with England age group teams and it is no surprise to Foster they have gone on to achieve what they have done in club football.

Foster said: "The FA appoint good coaches. Sometimes in football there is a route to the highest level as a coach, and sometimes there is different ways. I think when you haven't been a high-profile player like myself you have to find a way and my journey might not be as linear as one or two others.

"The same with Steve. He worked at Wrexham initially with Joey Jones, then at Liverpool as academy manager and under-18s coach and then in FA coach education.

"So Coops has had a wonderful opportunity to challenge and test himself in different environments before working with England's best players and then doing what he did at Swansea - two years on the bounce in the (Championship) play-offs - and then the incredible work he done at Nottingham Forest to get them promoted and then keep them in the Premier League.

"I have spoken to both Coops and Rob and they wished me well. Rob, again, has done an incredible job. Nobody expected Luton Town to be promoted to the Premier League.

"Rob, and (Luton assistant manager) Richie Kyle alongside him, are both products of The FA in terms of coaching in the pathway. England has got some really good coaches and I think sometimes we are quite eager and quick to go the foreign route first without perhaps looking at what's in this country.

"We have got a wonderful coach education system at The Football Association. St George' Park is a hub of wonderful coach educators and people with wonderful knowledge of the game. I think sometimes it takes a brave owner and board to look at you first."

During his time working for The FA, Foster worked with now established Premier League stars such as Phil Foden, Conor Gallagher and Bukayo Saka.

He said: "I think the greatest achievement is seeing some of the players now representing teams in the Premier League, and international teams. Working and developing players that are now playing at the very highest level, and not just playing at the very highest level but thriving.

"Now I'm not taking credit for those players in terms of 'It was down to me' but it doesn't half make you proud when you have had an opportunity to work with young players and then you see them thriving at the highest level of international football, it's a fabulous feeling."

Developing young players will continue to be an important part of Foster's new role at Argyle, especially with the exciting plans for a new permanent academy which is set to open in 2025.

Foster said: "Whether it's a short-term loan to benefit us and the player, or whether it's a permanent transfer we want to develop players to go and thrive in Plymouth's first team. Can we develop some from the academy to do that as well? That's a big aim of ours but, yeah, definitely we want to continue to develop players to play at the highest level possible."

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