Ryan Mason departs Tottenham to become West Brom boss as statement issued

Ryan Mason has left Tottenham to take over as West Brom head coach on a three-year deal. He quickly emerged as a leading candidate for the Championship club after they dismissed Tony Mowbray on April 21.

Spurs' roller-coaster 2024-25 campaign - in which they secured Europa League success - only ended on May 25 and forced West Brom to bide their time but Mason, after a short holiday, decided to accept their offer and take his first step into management.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to have been appointed head coach of West Bromwich Albion," Mason told the club's website. "This is a huge club with a fantastic infrastructure and an incredible fan-base and I am excited about what we can achieve together.

"Having spoken at length to the board and those at the club, I am convinced that Albion is the perfect place for me to be and I can't wait to get started.

"I will bring with me a huge amount of enthusiasm, dedication and ambition and look forward to a positive future together at such a fantastic club."

At the age of 33, Mason becomes the youngest boss in the Championship and this move ends his seven-year coaching career at Tottenham.

Mason, who progressed through Spurs' academy to play 70 times for his boyhood team, was forced to cut short his playing career in 2018 after he sustained a fractured skull in a Premier League match for Hull at Chelsea a year earlier.

A decade on from earning his solitary England cap against Italy, the London-born coach will embark on his first managerial role in the 2025-26 season.

Highly-rated coach Mason held talks with Belgian club Anderlecht in October before a mutual decision was made to remain at Spurs, which enabled him to play his part in the club's first trophy since 2008.

After two previous caretaker stints at Tottenham, including leading the club in the 2021 Carabao Cup final, Mason has long been tipped for a future in management.

Mason initially started coaching at youth level for Spurs upon his playing retirement before being promoted to Antonio Conte's coaching staff three years later, not long after a seven-game spell as interim boss.

Another caretaker role came in 2023 following Conte's departure before Ange Postecoglou kept Mason as part of his backroom team.

After a further two years as Tottenham first-team coach, Mason will take over West Brom after they finished ninth in the Championship.

Mowbray was dismissed in April after their play-off hopes ended despite only being hired in January to replace Carlos Corberan, who left to take over at Valencia.

Mason, whose contract at Spurs was up this month, will be tasked with leading West Brom back into the top flight for the first time since 2021.