Former South African international Quinton Fortune was named first team coach at English Championship club Reading, the club announced.
“We would like to warmly welcome both Quinton and (new Assistant First Team Coach) Nuno (Gomes) to Reading Football Club,” the club said in a statement.
Fortune had been assistant Under-23s coach at Premier League club Manchester United since his appointment in July last year.
Fortune, alongside United’s U23 manager Neil Wood, helped guide the team to promotion to Premier League 2 Division One last season. However, the player once admitted that he will have to prove his credentials as a manager elsewhere.
“He (Fortune) returned to United to complete his badges before a coaching stint with Cardiff City in 2014. Now he leaves Old Trafford’s youth set-up to join Veljko’s coaching team at the Madejski, where he links up with former United teammate John O’Shea as part of the Royals’ first team set up.”
Fortune already completed his UEFA A Licence, a coaching licence from UEFA which allows holders to be head coaches of youth team and reserve teams.
He is working on acquiring his UEFA Pro Licence, which is a mandatory qualification for managing in the FA Premier League and UEFA competitions. The South African had previously said that his ultimate ambition is to manage United.
“I want to always be judged because of my character and what I can bring to the team, not because of the colour of my skin,” Fortune told The Official Manchester United Podcast.
Fortune played 126 times for Manchester United between 1999 and 2006. He played in three Premier League-winning seasons during his seven-year stay at Old Trafford.
The 43-year-old also won 46 caps for South Africa featuring in two World Cups and won a runners-up medal in the 1998 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso.
