Smith’s Backroom Team – Shakespeare & Terry
The Birmingham-born former midfielder became a significant figure in the Foxes’ history by playing a vital role in a journey which saw City rise from League 1 to Premier League winners and UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists.
Over the course of a 17-year career, between 1981 and 1998, Shakespeare made over 350 appearances for Walsall, playing alongside Dean Smith, and featured in the old First Division with Sheffield Wednesday, where he was Nigel Pearson’s team-mate. He also played in more than a century of games for both West Bromwich Albion and Grimsby Town before a brief spell at Scunthorpe United. In 1999, he returned to the Baggies, coaching in the academy and then, in 2006, overseeing the reserve team. Shakespeare managed one first team game too, claiming victory over Crystal Palace, before Tony Mowbray was appointed.
Initially arriving at Leicester in June 2008 as part of Pearson's coaching team, with the Club newly relegated to League 1, immediate promotion back to the second tier was secured in 2009 and the Foxes went on to reach the Championship play-offs a year later.
Returning to Leicester alongside Pearson in October 2011, following a 17-month spell at Hull City, Shakespeare assisted the Championship title win of 2013/14, before the 'Great Escape' from Premier League relegation a season later. When Pearson left King Power Stadium during the summer of 2015, Shakespeare continued as assistant manager under Claudio Ranieri, remarkably winning the Premier League title during the 2015/16 season.
In February 2017, Shakespeare was appointed caretaker manager and became the first English manager to win his first five Premier League games during a run of six consecutive victories which also included success over Sevilla in the Champions League, a result which saw Leicester qualify for the quarter-finals of the prestigious European competition. Finishing the season in 12th, Shakespeare also took on a brief coaching role with England, while his Leicester tenure came to a close in October 2017. His contribution to the most successful period in the Club’s history was not forgotten.
Three months after leaving King Power Stadium, Shakespeare worked under manager Sam Allardyce at Everton, leaving in May 2018 before linking up with Pearson once more as Watford’s assistant manager in December 2019, a role he left in July 2020. The 59-year-old then became Dean Smith’s assistant manager at Aston Villa for 2020/21, as Villa ended the season in 11th. Leaving alongside Smith in November 2021, they soon joined up again at Norwich City, spending 13 months at Carrow Road.
The pair are now reunited, at Leicester City, alongside another man who was part of Smith’s coaching setup at Villa Park, John Terry. A Chelsea legend, Terry won every major club honour during his two decades at Stamford Bridge, including the Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup – the latter three on multiple occasions – while also captaining the Blues during a distinguished career. The only Premier League player to lead a team to five top-flight titles, he made more than 500 appearances for the west London side overall, becoming Chelsea’s all-time highest scoring defender in the process.
A no-nonsense centre-half with plenty of on-the-ball quality, those attributes were utilised by his country, too, with an international career that involved playing in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships for England, earning a total of 78 international caps. The 42-year-old’s individual honours include winning PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2004/05 and being named in the PFA Team of the Century, as well as in the FIFPro World XI for five successive seasons.
Once his playing days came to a close with Villa in 2018, reaching the Championship play-off final at the end of his final season, Terry became Smith’s assistant head coach at the Midlands club, spending three seasons at Villa Park, during which time promotion back to the Premier League was secured at the second attempt. A return to Chelsea arrived in early 2022, in a coaching consultancy role within the club’s academy, prior to taking the job to work under Smith at Leicester.