Where is Sean Dyche from? Ex-Burnley and Everton manager appointed new Nottingham Forest boss - where does he live, why does he have a 'gravel voice'
Nottingham Forest have appointed former Burnley and Everton boss Sean Dyche as their new manager.
The 54-year-old Englishman, who has signed a contract to run until the summer of 2027, becomes the Forest's third different boss this season. Dyche succeeds Ange Postecoglou, who lasted just 39 days and was sacked 17 minutes after Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Chelsea in the Premier League.
Forest are 18th in the league table after one win in eight games during what has been a difficult start to the season. Dyche's first game will be a Europa League game at home to Porto on Thursday before Forest are at Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
Dyche's coaching staff will include Ian Woan and Steven Stone, who both played for Nottingham Forest. Dyche was on the books of Forest as a youth team player in the late 1980s, while Brian Clough was manager, but never made a first-team appearance.
He has not had a managerial job since being sacked by Everton in January after just under two years in charge of the Toffees. Dyche won 21, lost 31 and drew 23 of his 75 Premier League matches as Everton boss, guiding the club to 17th and 15th-place finishes.
Prior to that Dyche spent nearly a decade as Burnley manager between October 2012 and April 2022, twice winning promotion to the top flight and helping the Clarets qualify for Europe for the first time since 1967. He also had a stint in charge of Watford for the 2011–2012 season, only to lose his job following a change of ownership.
Kettering-born Dyche spent his entire playing career as a defender outside of the top flight, making more than 500 appearances for clubs including Chesterfield, Bristol City, Millwall, Watford and Northampton. Dyche reportedly lives in Nottingham.
The manager has a distinctive, gravelly voice, which is the subject of a popular anecdote that it comes from eating worms. However, Dyche has clarified that this was an old training ground joke. Dyche's former teammate Soren Andersen once said he saw Dyche eat worms, leading to speculation about the origin of his voice.
Dyche later revealed this was a prank where he would pretend to chew a worm to shock his teammates He joked: “I also smoke exhaust pipes and I have gravel for breakfast. Those three combined often are the things that keep this voice sounding how it is.
“It’s fair to say I didn’t actually eat the worms. It was a bit of banter I used to have - I’ve done it here and Watford too - that you get a nice, big juicy worm hanging out of your mouth. It wobbles and wriggles around and you look as if you’re chewing it. Then you spit it out and wash your mouth out with water. For the record, I don’t really eat worms.”