Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of Premier League club West Ham United.

He was appointed manager of Championship club Swansea City in June 2018, and moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion of the Premier League a year later.

Born in Solihull, West Midlands, Potter began his footballing career at the age of 17 as a trainee at Birmingham City.

[1] After a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, the young left-back then moved on to Stoke City, then to Southampton in the Premier League,[3] where he played in the famous 6–3 win over Manchester United in 1996.

[5] Potter joined West Bromwich Albion in 1997, and after three and a half years, which also included loan spells at Northampton Town and Reading, he signed for York City.

[13] During his time at the club, Potter led the team to the third round of the FA Vase and third place in the 2009–10 Northern Counties East League season, before departing Leeds Carnegie on 12 January 2011.

In December 2010, Potter signed a three-year contract as coach of Östersund, who were then playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football, starting on 24 January 2011.

[18] On 27 October 2015, Östersund secured promotion to the Swedish top flight, Allsvenskan, for the first time in their history following a second-place finish in the 2015 Superettan.

[19] Östersund finished their debut season in eighth place, winning plaudits for their "slick passing game" and competing on a limited budget.

[23] Potter was appointed manager of newly relegated Championship club Swansea City on 11 June 2018 on a three-year contract.

[29] Potter won his first match as Swansea boss with a 2–1 victory over Sheffield United, with goals from striker Oli McBurnie and former Liverpool youngster Yan Dhanda.

[32] They finished 10th in the league, after a strong end-of-season run gave Swansea a slim chance of making the play-offs going into the last three matches of the season.

[37] Potter was appointed head coach of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 May 2019, signing a four-year contract.

[55] On 21 January 2022, it was announced that Potter had tested positive for COVID-19; first team coach Björn Hamberg instead took charge of Brighton's game against Leicester City, a 1–1 away draw.

On 8 September 2022, Potter was appointed the new head coach of Premier League club Chelsea on a five-year deal, replacing Thomas Tuchel.

[72] On 1 October, Potter won his first Chelsea match in his second game in charge, coming from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2–1 away from home.

[74] After Chelsea's exit in the third round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1998 following a 4–0 defeat to Manchester City, Potter came under intense scrutiny from the fans and media due to the side's poor results and performances.

[75] On 18 February, after a home defeat to bottom of the table Southampton, a section of Chelsea fans called for Potter's resignation.

[77] On 7 March, Chelsea reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, overturning a first-leg round of 16 defeat at Borussia Dortmund by beating them 2–0 at home.

[78] On 2 April, following a 2–0 loss to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, Potter was dismissed from his post, with Bruno Saltor taking over as interim.

[81] Potter was appointed head coach of Premier League club West Ham United on 9 January 2025, signing a two–and–a–half year contract.

[86][87] At Östersund, he encouraged his players and staff to engage in community activities, such as performing in theatre and music productions designed to take them out of their comfort zone.