Stratford Town confirm new managerial line-up

STRATFORD Town have confirmed their new managerial line-up, with Thomas Baillie taking charge of all first-team matters at the Arden Garages Stadium.

Former Kettering Town boss Baillie arrived at the club last month as head of football, working alongside joint caretaker-bosses Steve Walker and Nathan Marsh.

Club directors have now moved to offer the 43-year-old a more defined role with the first team, with Walker and Marsh set to remain at the club as coaches.

Walker will revert to his previous post as academy manager, while Marsh will return to his role as goalkeeping coach.

Joining them will be Paul Davis and Scott Machin, both of whom have already been involved with the club in a coaching capacity in recent weeks.

Paul Davis, who was sacked as Redditch United boss in September, joins as a first-team coach.

Completing the rather crowded dugout is Scott Machin, as revealed in the StratfordHeraldlast month.

The former Loughborough Dynamo boss has been a verbal figure on the sidelines in two Town games already, against Redditch and Coventry City's under-23s.

Machin is a close friend of Baillie and the duo enjoyed considerable success when in joint charge of Kettering, leading them to the Southern League Division One Central title in 2014/15.

Baillie said: “Once the club had defined there was a role available I had no hesitation in accepting.

"The club has a fantastic set-up, good people running it and through my contacts I have only heard positive things.

"It’s the right opportunity at the right time to bring me back into football management. The first people I called after being offered the job were Marshy (Nathan Marsh) and Walks (Steve Walker) whom I have known for a long time and explained the situation.”

“I am very pleased Marshy and Walks will be staying on with the club. The players, supported by my coaching staff, will work closely together to try to bring the success the club deserves."

A club spokesman said: “We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Steve and Nathan for doing such a great job as caretaker managers over the past month and we are delighted that they will be staying with the club.

"We are also delighted to welcome two highly qualified coaches in Scott and Paul, which will only strengthen and deepen the coaching quality at the club."

More reaction in this week's Stratford Herald