Reid appointed Warrington manager

WARRINGTON Town have swooped for Prescot Cable's Shaun Reid as their new manager, with former player Lee Smith re-joining the club as his assistant.

Reid aged 46, who lives in Prescot, joined his hometown club in January and has helped transform their fortunes with no playing budget after the club reverted to amateur status.

He holds a UEFA A coaching licence and has had spells coaching at Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle.

During his professional playing career he played over 400 games at Rochdale, twice, Preston North End, Bury and Chester City. He has also scouted for Sunderland and Portsmouth and worked in football as an agent.

He is the younger brother of former England and Everton star Peter Reid and played in a similar hardworking and tough-tackling manner.

Reid was one of more than 40 people who applied for the vacant management position following the departure of Joey Dunn and Stu Humphreys and was on a short list of high calibre candidates.

The board of directors at Warrington were impressed how Reid transformed Prescot's fortunes in such a short space of time and hope he can have a similar impact at
Warrington, with six games left this season.

Chief Executive Richard Sutton said:" The appointment of Shaun is part of an overall plan for the progression of the whole club to a standard that sees us move towards being a professional football club further down the line. It is a vital piece in the jigsaw that is involved in the development of the club.

“Shaun has an extensive list of contacts within the game which is another big asset as we look to take the club forward.”

On joining Warrington Reid said: “I am very excited by the opportunities presented to me here at Warrington Town.

“The board is clearly ambitious about promoting football within the town with the ultimate goal of becoming a football league club – and I see myself as being part of that journey.”

On joining Prescot the very first game Reid saw was Warrington’s victory over Radcliffe Borough when he visited to “get a taste” for non league football in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

“I thought Warrington were a pretty good team that night with some decent players. But I am concerned about the general fitness levels of a lot of players in non league football and that will be one of the first things I will be looking to improve. Some players think they can just turn out on the pitch and play a game – but that is not the case for anyone who plays for me.

“I will be bringing in at least two new faces this week to bolster the team and possibly another two and one is a former full time professional who is just returning to the game following injury.

“I have not come to Warrington to play at this – my ambition matches that of the board and I will be working to ensure everything around the club is more professional.”

His assistant Lee was a right back at Warrington and has been working alongside Reid at Prescot.

Meanwhile the club is looking to further strengthen its backroom team with the appointment of a new director of football development in the near future.

Prescot Cables stalwart and current reserve team manger Joe Gibiliru (Senior) will take charge of the Valerie Park outfit until the end of the season, and anyone interested in the position of manager for next season should contact Club Secretary Doug Lace on 0775 314 3273 or at doug.lace@hotmail.com although the closing date for applications will not be until Friday 4th May.

In a brief statement released last night, Cables said, "The Committee would like to extend their thanks to the Players and to Joe Gibiliru for their loyalty and hard work and would urge all supporters to really get behind the team now for the remainder of the fixtures."