| Harry Watling | |
| Birth Date: | 28 November 1989 |
| Birth Place: | London, England |
| Currentclub: | Ebbsfleet United (manager) |
| Manageryears1: | 2021–2022 |
| Managerclubs1: | Hartford Athletic |
| Manageryears2: | 2024– |
| Managerclubs2: | Ebbsfleet United |
Harry Watling (born 28 November 1989) is an English football coach. He is currently manager of club Ebbsfleet United.
Watling earned his UEFA B licence at age 18, UEFA A licence at 26 and his UEFA Pro licence at 33, which at the time made him one of the youngest coaches in England to have such coaching licence’s .[1]
Watling went on to work as an academy coach with Chelsea from 2009 to 2014, Millwall from 2014 to 2018, and West Ham United from 2018, before becoming head coach of USL Championship side Hartford Athletic on 13 January 2021.[2] [1]
Watling became the youngest Head coach in US professional soccer at the time of signing his first contract for USL franchise Hartford Athletic.
After joining Hartford Athletic on 13 January 2021, he won his first match in charge 3–2 against New York Red Bulls II on 30 April 2021. On 6 June 2021 in his fourth match he broke the club record for the biggest ever win in their history when he beat New York Red Bulls II 7–0 at home who had seven MLS contracted players from the first team in the lineup.[3] Watling broke several club records in his first season in charge of The Athletic, including most goals scored in a regular season and most clean sheets. Hartford finished 5th narrowly missing out on the play offs. On 25 June 2022, Watling resigned from his role as Hartford coach to attend family matters back home in England.[4]
On 25 July 2022, Watling was appointed First Team Development coach at Championship side Queens Park Rangers.[5] Watling helped guide the Rs to the top of the Championship before departing for Rangers in late 2022.
On 28 November 2022, Watling joined Michael Beale in moving to Rangers as First team coach.Watling also oversee the set plays alongside his role of coaching the team.
On 12 September 2024,again creating another record of being the youngest Manager in the league at the time, Watling was appointed manager of National League club Ebbsfleet United.[6]
Watling is married to professional footballer and Northern Ireland national team player Ciara Watling who currently plays for Southampton of the FA Women's Championship.[7] [8]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | |||||||||||
| Hartford Athletic |  | 13 January 2021 | 25 June 2022 | 48 | 19 | 8 | 21 | 77 | 62 | +13 | 39.5% |
| Ebbsfleet United | 12 September 2024 | Present | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 32 | -17 | 7.1% | |