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A former Cardiff City footballer-turned-college tutor has been named as the new principal and chief executive of Coleg y Cymoedd.

Jonathan Morgan, who made 70 appearances for the Bluebirds before injury cut short his career in 1996, takes over from the departing principal Karen Phillips.

Mr Morgan has been the college’s vice principal and chief operating officer for the past three years, having started out the college’s Ystrad Mynach campus 20 years ago when it was still known as College Ystrad Mynach.

The college also has campuses in Nantgarw, as well as in Aberdare and Llwynypia in the Rhondda.

Speaking about his plans for the college’s future, Mr Morgan said: “I’m extremely privileged and excited to be the next principal of Coleg y Cymoedd. My last two decades have already allowed me to play key roles in helping the college go from strength-to-strength.

“This included including ensuring that we continued to deliver high quality education during the pandemic – a really tough time across the education sector – which our strong learner results have been testament to.”

He is also planning to bring back more face-to-face teaching following the pandemic, while also lending more than 2,000 laptops to students.

He added: “The world of work is changing rapidly as a result of technological changes including automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. It’s important to me that our teaching helps learners to enter employment fully equipped with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to succeed in their chosen career path.”