Gillingham Football Club

Full information on the Gills' management team

Deren Ibrahim

Position: Goalkeeping Coach

Deren arrived as Goalkeeping Coach at Priestfield in February 2022, replacing Ian Pledger who departed prior to Steve Lovell's spell in temporary charge.

Ibrahim, 31, played for the full Gibraltar international side on eight occasions and represented a number of local Kent sides, including Dartford, Sittingbourne and Maidstone before retiring in the summer of 2019.

James Russell

Position: Fitness Coach

James returned for a second spell as part of the sports science team in February 2018 having initially joined as part of Martin Allen's backroom team in the summer of 2012 and was heavily praised for his role in helping the squad win promotion.

He had worked at Notts County and Rochdale prior to his arrival at Priestfield Stadium, and moved to Barnet to join Allen when he became Manager at Underhill in 2016. Currently he heads up the Fitness team at ME7 and works closely with Robbie Stockdale and Stephen Clemence.

Bryan Bull

Position: Academy Manager

Bull has been in charge of Gillingham’s Centre of Excellence, now Academy, since 2008 and in that time has overseen a complete overhaul of the club’s youth system. 

He started coaching at the club back in 2000, and his current role includes responsibility for all the players in the club's development program who are still at school.

During his time at the Gills, the likes of Matthew Jarvis, Andrew Crofts, Luke Freeman and Ryan Bertrand – the latter winning a Champions League medal with Chelsea at the end of the 2011/12 season - have all moved from the Youth Development program onto Premier League clubs.