Our Coaching Staff

Born in Kingston upon Hull, James Whitfield began his football career in the Hull City AFC academy. A knee injury ended his playing days early and he turned to coaching, graduating in Sport Science from Loughborough University.

He spent ten years at the Hull City AFC academy coaching the U14, U16 and U18 sides, and took part in restructuring the club's youth curriculum during that period.

Since 2024 he has served as Academy Director of Hull City Academy Türkiye, auditing technical standards across all campuses against club criteria.

Mehmet Kaya spent his professional playing career in the Turkish Süper Lig and TFF First League before retiring in 2015 to move into coaching.

A graduate of Marmara University's School of Physical Education and Sport, Kaya holds a UEFA A licence. He has worked in the U15 and U17 categories of Süper Lig club academies.

At Hull City Academy Türkiye he is head coach of the Performance Group and is also responsible for the development of the Turkish coaching staff.

Sarah Collins played for many years in the English Women's Super League and also competed at international level.

After her playing career she moved into coaching, completing her UEFA A licence and working in the women's youth structures of several clubs in England.

At Hull City Academy Türkiye she is responsible for establishing and running the girls' football programme, and takes an active role in school projects aimed at growing the women's game in Türkiye.

Emre Demir spent fifteen years as a professional goalkeeper before moving into goalkeeping coaching.

Holder of a UEFA Goalkeeping A licence, Demir specialises in the use of video analysis and reaction technology in goalkeeper development.

He is the founder and lead instructor of the Hull City Academy Türkiye Goalkeeper School.

A graduate of Hacettepe University's Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ayşe Yıldırım holds a master's degree in exercise physiology.

She specialises in GPS-based load monitoring, physical testing batteries and injury-prevention movement programmes.

At Hull City Academy Türkiye she collects and analyses physical development data for athletes across all campuses and produces individual development reports.

Irish-born Daniel O'Brien began his football career in England, playing for a number of lower-league clubs.

After moving into coaching he specialised in skill acquisition, working in particular on technical teaching methodology for the 8-12 age group.

At Hull City Academy Türkiye he serves as technical coach for the Development Group.