Huddersfield Town's new technical director has a history of high-profile signings

The former Halifax Town player replaces Leigh Bromby and completes the triumvirate of leading figures at the club after a revamp under new owner Kevin Nagle.

Cartwright will work closely with manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Jake Edwards.

He has worked with Edwards before as sporting director of the United Soccer League, which Nagle's Sacramento Republic are the leading team in. During his tenure he was credited with significantly improving the profile and quality of the league's players.

He is better known in English football for eight years at Stoke, working with managers such as Tony Pulis, Mark Hughes and Michael O'Neill.

Hughes’s tenure was particularly eventful, signing the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Joe Allen, Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic. He will certainly not be shopping in those markets at Huddersfield, but it suggests an excellent contacts book. Prior to joining Stoke, he had seven years as a licensed agent.

Instead, Nagle is keen to build up the Terriers’ infrastructure and particularly their academy, and Cartwright should be able to play an important role there too.

“I have worked closely with Mark in our previous roles at the USL and so I know what an asset he will be to Huddersfield Town," said Edwards.

“Although the sporting director role is a varied one, player recruitment and contract management are vital components of that, and Mark has a huge global network of contacts in the game that he can call upon.

“However, Mark’s skills at developing staff and creating an elite culture at the training ground will be hugely important in his other responsibilities, such as ensuring we have strong player pathways from the academy, and in managing other areas such as medical, sports science and analysis.

“His work alongside Neil Warnock has already begun, and I look forward to him building on the already solid foundations we have at the club.”

As a player, Cartwright was an under-21 international who also played for Brighton and Hove Albion, Shrewsbury Town and Wrexham as well as Halifax.

Having made a great virtue of having the right lieutenants in place, Nagle will be pleased to have completed the core off-field leadership group on the day the first-team players returned for pre-season – not something Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday or Barnsley have been able to manage for different reasons.

Town are yet to make their first signing of the summer, but have been linked with Wigan Athletic forward Callum Lang.