Graham Potter

Potter was appointed head coach of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 May 2019, signing a four-year contract. Brighton were victorious in Potter's first match, defeating Watford in a 3–0 away victory in what was also his first game in charge of a Premier League side. Potter's first official home game in charge of Brighton came on 17 August against West Ham where a Leandro Trossard goal was correctly ruled out for offside by VAR which denied Brighton the lead. However, he later went on to score an equaliser to make it 1–1 shortly after Javier Hernández put West Ham a goal up. His first defeat in the Premier League came on 24 August coming at Falmer Stadium against south coast rivals, Southampton where they lost 2–0 with Florin Andone receiving a straight red card for a poorly judged tackle on Yan Valery. His second win Brighton manager came at Bristol Rovers where they won 2–1 in the EFL Cup. They went on to lose in the next round on 25 September, losing 3–1 at home to Aston Villa where Potter gave 10 Brighton players their debuts in the youthful side of an average age of just over 21. After without a league win since the opening game of season Brighton were starting to drop down the table sitting in 16th after 7 games. On 5 October, the 8th league game of the season Brighton claimed a 3–0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur where Aaron Connolly – who has benefited in game time under Potter – scored 2 goals in his first ever Premier League start.

Potter was appointed manager of newly relegated Championship club Swansea City on 11 June 2018 on a three-year contract. He was joined by assistant manager Billy Reid and recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay. On his appointment, Potter said "This is a Premier League club from the last seven years and it wants to try to get back, but get back in a way that there is an identity and an understanding of what they want to be on the pitch. That was the interesting thing for me – the chance to build something".

After Chris Hughton was dismissed as Brighton & Hove Albion manager at the end of the 2018–19 season, Potter was heavily linked with the managerial vacancy, with Albion making an official approach for his services which Swansea initially rejected. However, several days later, Potter informed Swansea of his desire to leave the club and bring several of his backroom staff with him to Brighton. Swansea initially offered Potter a new contract to remain at the club, which would have made him one of the Championship's highest earning managers. However, the club eventually granted permission for Potter to begin talks with Brighton, who would reportedly pay Swansea about £3m in compensation for Potter and his backroom staff.

—Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa on facing Graham Potter's Swansea City team, 20 August 2018.

On 13 April 2017, Potter's Östersund team won the Svenska Cupen, beating Norrköping 4–1 in the final. This granted the team a place in the second qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League where they defeated Galatasaray 3–1 on aggregate. In the third round they defeated Fola Esch 3–1 on aggregate and in the play-offs they knocked out PAOK (3–3 on aggregate with more away goals), thus securing a historic entry into the Europa League group stage. They finished second in their group, level on points with Athletic Bilbao. Despite beating Arsenal 2–1 at the Emirates Stadium, they were eliminated from the competition after losing 4–2 on aggregate. Östersund finished their domestic league season in fifth place.

In 2013, after two successive promotions, Potter extended his contract with the club for another three years. On 27 October 2015, Östersund secured promotion to the Swedish top flight, Allsvenskan, for the first time in their history following a second-place finish in the 2015 Superettan. Östersund finished their debut season in eighth place, winning plaudits for their "slick passing game" and competing on a limited budget.

Born in Solihull, West Midlands, Potter began his career as a trainee at Birmingham City. After a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, he moved on to Stoke City, then to Southampton, where he played in the 6–3 win over Manchester United in 1996. While a Southampton player, he was capped for England U21s in a European Championships qualifier against Moldova.

Potter won his first match as Swansea boss with a 2–1 victory over Sheffield United, with goals from striker Oli McBurnie and former Liverpool youngster Yan Dhanda. His first game at Swansea's Liberty Stadium was a 1–0 win against Preston North End. In his first season at the club, Swansea reached the quarter-finals of the 2018–19 FA Cup, where they hosted Manchester City. They initially led the Premier League champions 2–0 after 30 minutes but three goals in the last 20 minutes, one from Bernardo Silva, an own goal from Kristoffer Nordfeldt and a late winner from Sergio Agüero defeated Potter's side. They finished 10th in the league, after a strong end of season run gave Swansea a slim chance of making the play-offs going into the last three matches of the season.

Potter describes his teams as "tactically flexible, attacking, [and] possession-based". At Östersund, he deployed a flexible 3–5–2 formation centred on ball possession. Former Celtic and Barcelona player Henrik Larsson commented on Potter's pattern of play, stating he "played all different kinds of systems, starting off a match one way, and then halfway through they started playing a different system, and then they ended up with a third system. And all the players knew exactly what they were doing."

Potter started his managerial career in December 2010 with Swedish club Östersund. He won three promotions and the Svenska Cupen with Östersund, leading them to the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League knockout stage. He was appointed manager of Championship club Swansea City in June 2018, and moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion a year later.

In December 2010, Potter signed a three-year contract as coach of Östersund, who were then playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football. Potter was offered the job after Graeme Jones, his friend and assistant to Roberto Martínez at Swansea City, recommended him to chairman Daniel Kindberg after their pre-season friendly with Swansea.

With support from the Professional Footballers' Association, Potter graduated from the Open University in December 2005 with a degree in Social Sciences. He worked as a football development manager for the University of Hull and as technical director for the Ghana women's team at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. He became assistant coach for the England Universities Squad, before joining Leeds Metropolitan University in a similar role; while at Leeds, he completed a master's in leadership and emotional intelligence.

Potter moved from York City to Boston United in the summer of 2003. He joined Shrewsbury Town on loan in November 2003. In 2004, he moved on a free transfer to Macclesfield Town, where he finished his senior playing career.

He joined West Bromwich Albion in 1997, and after three-and-a-half years, which included loan spells at Northampton Town and Reading, he signed for York City.

Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a left back. He is the head coach of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.