England Under-19 coach Martin Hunter could emerge as a surprise candidate for the job of Norwich City first team coach. Hunter, who brought his England youngsters - including the Canaries' Ryan Jarvis - to Norwich for an international fixture 18 months ago, is understood to have admirers at Carrow Road and may figure on the shortlist for the post.

England Under-19 coach Martin Hunter could emerge as a surprise candidate for the job of Norwich City first team coach.

Hunter, who brought his England youngsters - including the Canaries' Ryan Jarvis - to Norwich for an international fixture 18 months ago, is understood to have admirers at Carrow Road and may figure on the shortlist for the post.

As one of the FA's national coaches, Hunter worked with 2006 World Cup squad players Joe Cole and Michael Carrick in the national youth set-up in the late 1990s.

Before joining the FA, he was assistant manager and coach at Bradford City and coach at Stoke City.

The Canaries say they are at an “advanced stage” of appointing a replacement for Steve Foley, sacked a fortnight ago after 10 years with the club, and are keen to have someone in place well before the start of pre-season training in late June.

Chief executive Neil Doncaster said at the end of last week that the appointment “could be the most important signing for us of the summer”.

Manager Nigel Worthington drew up a shortlist of candidates after Foley's departure, but apart from ruling out current youth coach and technical director David Williams - assistant manager in his previous spell with the club - City have not discussed names.

Hunter is currently preparing his England squad for their European Under-19 Championship elite qualifying round matches in Belgium. They play three times in five days - against Belgium on Thursday, Northern Ireland on Saturday and Serbia & Montenegro on Monday. Last July, they reached the European Under-19 Championship final in Belfast, losing 3-1 to France.

In October 2004, Hunter's England Under-19 side drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic in an international at Carrow Road in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000.

At club level, Hunter worked alongside manager Chris Kamara at Bradford, who gained promotion to Division One through the play-offs in 1996.

After moving to Stoke, he was recruited to the FA as regional director of coaching and became a national coach after assisting with the under-15s and under-16s, where he gave Ryan Jarvis his debut.

He took the FA's inaugural UEFA pro licence course in 2001. City boss Worthington completed the same course the following year.

Hunter is highly regarded in FA circles, where he is described as “a highly qualified coach and coach educator”.

He co-ordinated the scouting and video support operation for Euro 2000, which was praised by the UEFA technical committee.

He has a university degree and has worked as a PE teacher and football development officer.