Tuesday 10th November 2020

Royal Wootton Bassett Town are delighted to announce that Graham Fletcher has been appointed as Ladies team manager.

Bringing experience managing at a higher level of the women's football pyramid, Fletcher will be aiming to build on the success that Bassett's Ladies side have enjoyed in recent years under previous managers Becky Gammon, Jonny House and James Goddard.

An FA Level 2 qualified coach, Fletcher was manager of Cheltenham Town Ladies in the FA Women's National League Division One South West from December 2014 to October 2017. During his time with the Robins' senior women's side, he twice guided the team to the Gloucestershire FA Women's Trophy final, winning the competition in 2016-17.

Fletcher then moved to take charge of Cheltenham's Under 18s side and enjoyed plenty of success, winning the Gloucestershire County Under 18s League and Cup double in 2017-18. A season later he guided the team to senior success as they topped the Gloucestershire County Women's Football League Division Two with an unbeaten record. The team also finished as runners-up in the Gloucestershire FA Women's Challenge Cup in 2018-19.

Meanwhile, since August of this year Fletcher has been in charge of Wickwar Wanderers men's side in the Stroud and District League Division One.

Commenting on the appointment, Chairman Andy Walduck said: "We are delighted that Graham has agreed to take on the role. We received a number of applications for the position and Graham was the candidate who really stood out throughout the process."

"The committee's aim is to see the Ladies side achieve promotion within the next two seasons – and with his experience managing at a higher level, the success he has had in his managerial career and the attributes he brings, we firmly believe Graham is the right person to help deliver that along with the talented squad of players already at the club."

In taking over the role, Fletcher said: "I am delighted to be given the opportunity to manage and coach Royal Wootton Bassett Town Ladies."

"Twitter is a great place to keep up with all that's going on within football and I'd seen that the previous management team had moved onto pastures new. The opportunity captured my attention so I registered my interest and soon ended up having a Zoom conversation with the club's Committee."

"We discussed many things, but I was most impressed by the Committee's enthusiasm to promote the Ladies team and get them to the next level. It was clear this was an enticing prospect to help drive things forward."

"I was then invited to a meeting with the Committee, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for me. I was shown the dressing rooms, the pitch and training facilities and was left hugely impressed"

"I then watched the team at what proved to be their final training session before the current lockdown. I could see straight away that the team spirit and camaraderie was very good, helped, no doubt, by the fact many of them had played for the team for a number of years and all wanted to do well for each other. When you go somewhere new and you see that type of togetherness, it leaves a positive impression and I found that really encouraging, although it was no more than I expected"

"I now look forward to working with what is a really talented bunch of players, helping them develop further while also hopefully building on the success they have had."

Last modified on Tuesday 10th November 2020 at 09:41.