Ben Garner is an English professional football coach who is the manager of club Bristol Rovers. Whilst completing the UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, he was mentored by then Chelsea manager José Mourinho. Previously, Garner was the assistant head coach at West Bromwich Albion. and first team coach at Crystal Palace. Most recently before the Bristol Rovers job, he was assistant head coach at ATK in the Indian Super League. Garner began coaching at a very young age following a serious injury with the original motivation to coach being he didn't feel young players were being coached well enough technically and tactically. Garner was also inspired by Terry Venables who "stood out from anything I had experienced previously".
Career
Crystal Palace
Garner began his professional coaching career at Crystal Palace in 2005 where he spent the next seven years as youth coach at the Academy. Initially appointed as head coach of the under-11 team, he progressed through the age groups to become head coach of the under-18 team. Garner set-up a full-time school programme in 2011. On 4 July 2012 Oasis Academy Shirley Park were crowned under-15 national champions with Garner stating 'they have won the cup by controlling games with possession football". Players he coached on this programme included Aaron Wan-Bissaka. A number of players progressed through the Academy during this period including Victor Moses, Nathaniel Clyne, Wilfried Zaha, Sean Scannell, Jonny Williams, and John Bostock. He was promoted to first team coach in the 2012–13 season by manager Ian Holloway. Palace finished the season in 5th place and after beating rivals Brighton in the play-off semi-final progressed to Wembley on 27 May 2013 where they were promoted to the Premier League as play-off winners beating Watford 1–0 after extra time. Garner remained in his role as first team coach for the next two seasons working under Holloway, Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock, and Alan Pardew. Palace retained their Premier League status for the first time in the club’s history in 2013–14 finishing in 11th place with then manager Tony Pulis earning the LMA Manager of the Year award. Palace went one better in 2014–15 finishing in 10th place. Garner left Crystal Palace on 7 July 2015 by mutual consent. Former Crystal Palace player Peter Ramage spoke of his disappointment at Garner leaving the club.
West Bromwich Albion
He was appointed as first team coach at West Bromwich Albion on 9 October 2015, where he was reunited with former manager Tony Pulis. On 26 September 2016, West Bromwich Albion promoted Garner to assistant head coach. At the end of the 2016–17 season West Bromwich Albion finished in 10th place. In January 2017, he was linked to the vacant manager's job at Nottingham Forest. Pulis has stated that Garner has the potential to become a manager in the future. Albion finished the 2016–17 season in 10th position in the Premier League. Throughout his time at the club, Garner took charge of several fixtures including EFL trophy games, pre-season matches and the international friendly against Delhi Dynamos. Garner departed West Bromwich Albion in December 2017. In 2018 Garner was reported to have turned down the opportunity to become Manager of Bradford City due to a lack of assurances over control of the team. And in December 2018 former Bristol Rovers, Southampton, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and England player Rickie Lambert described Garner as "very organised, but imaginative, and had a great understanding of players" when suggesting him as the ideal candidate for the Manager job at Bristol Rovers.
After Graham Coughlan’s departure from Bristol Rovers in December 2019, Garner was again interviewed for the vacant job and was appointed on 23 December 2019. In January 2020, Garner was granted extended leave from the club.
