Former Bristol City and Celtic goalkeeper appointed coach at Championship club

Former Bristol City goalkeeper Jonathan Gould has been appointed as goalkeeping coach of Stoke City. The 54-year-old reunites with Alex Neil, who he worked with at Preston North End with.

He has been working with Napier City Rovers in New Zealand, as well as the Kiwi’s national team. The London-born keeper is back in England and is assisting the Potters, who play the Robins at Ashton Gate on December 17.

Gould, who joined the Robins in 2005, never made an appearance for the club, but joined in 2005 after a two-year spell with Preston North End. He left after just three months for New Zealand, joining Hawke's Bay United and later became their manager.

He is the brother of departing Robins chief executive Richard Gould, as well as the son of former Bristol City and Bristol Rovers striker Bobby Gould who managed the Gas twice, as well as the Welsh national team. Gould has worked with former City manager Tony Pulis, at both Middesbrough and West Brom.

"I worked with Jon before at Preston and I was really disappointed to lose him when he moved back to New Zealand,” Stoke boss Alex Neil said about the appointment. “I heard he was back in the country and we had a vacancy at that point. I know Jon's qualities and his experience.

"He's been about the block and he knows what good looks like. He'll certainly help the goalkeepers. When I got in contact with him he was really eager to explore the opportunity to come in and I'm really pleased to get it done.”

"The one thing you want to make sure is that your backroom team is diverse as well. Jon is in his 50s now, he's experienced and worked with a couple of different managers. He spent a lot of time with Tony Pulis and has a good understanding of defensive structure and things like that.”