Graham Potter was relieved of his duties as head coach of Chelsea on 2 April 2023, less than seven months after succeeding Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge in September 2022.

The 47-year-old had joined Chelsea after three successful years at Brighton & Hove Albion, where he had replaced Chris Hughton after the 2018/19 Premier League campaign.

He had a 13-year playing career, mostly spent in the Football League as a full-back with clubs including Birmingham City, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion.

He made eight Premier League appearances for Southampton in 1996/97, playing in a famous 6-3 win over Manchester United.

After finishing his playing career in 2005 Potter became a football development manager at Hull University, with a spell on secondment as the technical director of Ghana’s women’s team at the 2007 World Cup.

In April 2008 he was appointed the assistant coach for the England Universities Squad, and he then had a period with Leeds University.

Potter’s first senior managerial appointment came in December 2010 at Swedish fourth-tier side Ostersunds. He led them to successive promotions in 2011 and 2012 and then, in October 2015, took the club into the top flight for the first time in their history.

Eighteen months later Potter’s side won the Swedish Cup and earned a place in the Europa League, where they reached the last 32, bowing out to Arsenal.

In June 2018 Potter returned to the UK to take charge of Swansea City, who had just been relegated from the Premier League.

He led them to a 10th-place finish in the Championship while reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where his side lost 3-2 to Manchester City.

That earned him a move to Brighton in May 2019 where, getting the team to play in a more expansive fashion, he led them to a 15th-placed finish, a joint-high with their highest points total (41) and highest goals total (39) in their three Premier League seasons.

After a 2020/21 season of similar results, things began to click in 2021/22 when Brighton finished eighth.

A few standout results included a 4-0 home win over Manchester United at home, and a 2-2 draw at Liverpool, having come from 2-0 down. 

He oversaw Brighton's best start to a Premier League season in 2022/23, with 13 points from the opening six matches and a fourth place before Chelsea came calling. 

However the club decided to relieve him of his duties after 11 defeats in 31 matches had led to Chelsea lying in 11th place.