The board of Witton Albion has announced the appointment of Gary Finley as team manager, succeeding Nigel Deeley who left his post yesterday. Finley returns to the club he managed from 2004 - 2005, and will again be assisted by Lee Coathup. Albion stalwart Brian Pritchard has accepted the role of player/coach in the new set up.

The new management team will meet their players on Tuesday when preparations will start for the six-pointer against bottom-placed Ossett Town at the weekend.

In their last spell in charge, Finley and Coathup steered Witton to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup and the verge of the play-offs after Finley followed John Davison in the Wincham hot seat. This time out, the duo's brief is to stop a run of nine consecutive defeats and to lift the club clear of the UniBond Premier Division relegation zone.

Commenting on the appointment, Acting Chairman Mark Harris said "during his last spell in charge, Gary built the nucleus of the team which Jim Vince then built upon successfully, so to an extent there is some unfinished business for Gary. For example, it was Gary who brought the likes of Mark Peers, Jon Kennedy and Steve Connors to Witton. However Gary has also managed at a higher level under severe financial constraints which, coupled with spells at Southport and Colwyn Bay, have given him a wide experience of the non-league game, and players."

"Gary's teams are highly organized, and will in time follow the Witton Albion tradition of attacking football. In the meantime however, his brief is very simple - to keep Witton Albion in this division. This will mean having to grind out results, and it may not be pretty in the short term. There will be some rebuilding and I know Gary has already identified players he wants to bring to the club. He is also fully aware of the financial constraints that he will be operating under."

"The decision to relieve Nigel Deeley of his duties was not taken lightly, or unilaterally. Nigel holds - and will continue to hold - a very special place in the heart of all Wittoners. However we cannot afford to fall further behind. We need to become more organized on the field, and start to become a real threat to our opponents."