On 15th November 2021 Craig Shakespeare was appointed as assistant manager to Norwich City's new boss Dean Smith. The two of them had previously worked together at Aston Villa.

A left sided midfielder as a player, Shakespeare began his playing career with Walsall, joining as an apprentice in 1979 and turning professional in November 1981. He played over 350 games for the Saddlers, scoring 59 goals, and helped them win promotion to Division Two in 1987/88.

He moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1989 for £300,000 before moving the following year to West Brom for £275,000. He stayed at West Brom for three years, making 128 appearances. In 1993 he moved to Grimsby where he made 106 league appearances before finishing his professional career at Scunthorpe in 1997. He then played non-league football with Telford and Hednesford.

In 1999 he returned to West Brom as their Football in the Community Officer. He later moved to become an academy coach. In 2006 he became reserve team coach and then had one game as caretaker manager in October 2006 (a defeat to Crystal Palace).

He left Albion in June 2008 to become Nigel Pearson's assistant at Leicester City (they had played together at Wednesday and worked together at West Brom). He followed Pearson to Hull City and then back to Leicester in November 2011. He remained as assistant manager after Pearson was sacked and Claudio Ranieri was appointed. They mastermined Leicester's Premier League title success in 2015/16, After Ranieri was sacked in February 2017, Shakespeare took over as caretaker manager, beating Liverpool 3-1 in his first game. He became the first Premier League manager to score three goals in his first three games, and then the first to win his first four games. He became Leicester manager in June 2017 but was sacked in November 2017.

Whilst at Leicester, he took an additional role coaching England under Sam Allardyce's short-lived tenure as manager of the national team.

On 1st December 2017 Shakespeare joined Everton as first team coach following the Toffee's appointment of Allardyce. They were both sacked in May 2018.

He teamed up again with Pearson at Watford between December 2019 and July 2020.

On 7th August 2020 he joined Aston Villa as Assistant Manager to Dean Smith. They were both dismissed on 8th November 2021.

Smith and Skespeare were dismissed from their roles at Norwich on 27th December 2022 after a run of just 3 wins in 13 games with Norwich fans questioning the style and quality of play.

Shakespeare returned to Leicester in April 2023 when Dean Smith was appointed as interim manager on 10th April 2023 until the end of the season. They were relegated on 28th May 2023 despite beating West Ham 2-1 on the final day of the season as Everton's result went against the Foxes. Smith and Shakespeare left the club in June 2023 following the appointment of Enzo Maresca as their new manager.

In October 2023 it was reported that Craig had been diagnosed with cancer and was receiving treatment. He passed away on 1st August 2024 aged 60.