Cooney appointed St Ives boss after long-serving manager resigns
St Ives Town have appointed Tommy Cooney as their new manager.
The former Royston Town assistant joins the club following the departure of Ricky Marheineke little over a fortnight ago.
Marheineke resigned from his role after a remarkable 12-and-a-half years in charge, during which time he oversaw just short of 600 Ives games.
He helped establish the club in the Southern League Premier Division: a position they remained at for a decade.
Now Ives have turned to Cooney, who held managerial roles at Northwood and Arlesey Town, where he achieved most success.
He is also an academy coach at League One side Stevenage, where he combined his duties with those at a Royston side he linked up with at the end of May.
During his playing days, Cooney built a reputation as a notable attacking threat across the non-league scene and also enjoyed spells abroad, playing in Sweden and Finland.
"This is a proper football club where Ricky has done extremely well," Cooney said.
"We all know it’s going to be a difficult task and the club is going through a new period, but everybody here is on the same page and I believe, in the long term, we can really achieve something special.
"However, looking at the short term, my first job will be keeping St Ives Town Football Club at Step 4, and I will do everything in my power to achieve that."
Cooney took charge of his new side for the first time on Monday night, leading them to a 3-1 victory at home to Corby Town - just their second league win of the season.
That result wasn't enough to lift them out of the NPL Midlands Division relegation zone, where they remain on goal difference.