Hayden Mullins leaves Fulham role after three years to take charge of EFL club

Hayden Mullins has departed Fulham to take up the manager’s job at Newport County.

Mullins was the Cottagers’ Under-21s boss, but he has joined the League Two side.

This will be the 47-year-old’s second EFL job after being in charge of Colchester United from March 2021 to January 2022.

He was appointed as Fulham‘s Under-21s boss in 2023 but has now headed back into senior football.

He replaces former Leicester City left-back Christian Fuchs.

Fuchs left the Welsh side by surprise in June, and Chris Todd had been appointed as interim.

Meanwhile, assistant manager Mark Smith has departed the club.

But Mullins has now left Fulham after 101 games as Under-21s boss to take on the challenge of the League Two side.

In a statement, they said: “Newport County is delighted to announce the appointment of Hayden Mullins as the club’s new manager.

“Mullins arrives at Rodney Parade with a wealth of experience from both his playing and coaching career, having represented clubs including Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Portsmouth before moving into management.

“Following his retirement, Mullins began his coaching journey at Reading before joining Watford in 2016, initially working with the club’s academy before progressing to manage the under-23 side.

“During his time at Vicarage Road, Mullins twice stepped into the role of caretaker manager, taking charge of the first team following the departures of Quique Sánchez Flores in 2019 and Nigel Pearson in 2020.

“He later joined Colchester United as assistant head coach before being appointed the club’s permanent head coach in May 2021.

“After his spell at Colchester, Mullins continued to broaden his coaching experience with the Turks and Caicos Islands national team before joining Fulham as under-21 head coach in July 2023.

“During his time at Craven Cottage, he enjoyed success by leading Fulham Under-21s to the Premier League Cup title in 2024, defeating Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s 4-0 in the final.

“Hayden Mullins will take charge of the first-team squad with immediate effect. His first match in the dugout will come on Saturday when Newport County face Yeovil Town in pre-season, before leading the side into Tuesday night’s fixture against AS Roma at Rodney Parade.”

Why did Fuchs leave?

The Austrian departed Newport after just seven months and two days before pre-season was due to start.

His time in charge of the Welsh club was relatively successful as he led the club to safety.

They just avoided relegation to the National League by winning their final two games of the season.

But despite that, he still decided to resign, and there was no real explanation for why it happened.

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In a statement, the club said: “Newport County can confirm that Christian Fuchs has made the decision to step away from his role as manager.

“During his time at Rodney Parade, Christian successfully guided Newport County to League Two survival, ensuring the club retained its EFL status at the end of the 2025-26 season.

“Everyone at Newport County would like to thank Christian for his hard work, commitment and professionalism during his time at the club.

“The club wishes Christian every success and happiness for the future.”

And a month later, the club have their replacement.

Mullins has two pre-season games before the season starts against AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup first round.

And the league game kicks off with a home tie against newly promoted Rochdale.