Cardiff City are set to appoint Craig Samson to their coaching staff, ending their search for a new goalkeeping coach. Samson is poised to join Brian Barry-Murphy's backroom team, replacing Gavin Ward, who departed at the end of last season.
Reunion with Barry-Murphy
The appointment will see Barry-Murphy reunite with Samson, who worked as goalkeeper coach at Rochdale during the Cardiff boss' time in charge of the club. Samson spent six months at Spotland in the 2019/20 season, working alongside Barry-Murphy and current Cardiff coach Kevin Gibbins.
The 42-year-old also brings considerable experience from his playing days, having been a top-flight goalkeeper in Scotland before moving into coaching.
Playing career highlights
Samson began his playing career with Kilmarnock and went on to represent a number of Scottish clubs, including Dundee United, Ross County, Dundee, Ayr United, St Mirren and Motherwell. He enjoyed a particularly successful spell at St Mirren, helping them win the Scottish League Cup in 2013 before later returning to the club and playing every league game as they won the Scottish Championship title in 2017/18.
Samson retired from playing in November 2018 after being offered a coaching position at Sunderland. He spent almost a year working as Sunderland's goalkeeping coach before moving on to a role at Rochdale, where he linked up with Barry-Murphy.
Recent coaching roles
Samson subsequently spent more than six years working in Scottish football, including spells as goalkeeping coach at Hibernian and Aberdeen. His most recent role was at Hibernian, where he was appointed in 2024 and remained until September this year.
His appointment at Cardiff comes after the club were forced to abandon their initial plan to bring in Manchester City academy coach Imanol Etxeberria. Etxeberria had been identified as the preferred candidate to replace Ward and had even been spotted at Cardiff matches during pre-season, but the move ultimately fell through because of visa issues.
Barry-Murphy confirmed last month that the club would appoint a new goalkeeper coach in this international break after deciding against rushing into an alternative appointment. The arrival of Samson will now bring that search to an end and add another experienced figure to Barry-Murphy's coaching staff.
