Tuesday 10th May 2022

Royal Wootton Bassett Town are pleased to announce the appointment of Simon Harrison as the club's new Ladies team manager.

Harrison, who previously served as Under 16s manager within Bassett's youth section in the 2019-20 season, where - among others - he coached James Johnson and Alex Stephenson who have since gone on to represent the club's men's first team, joins from Wiltshire County Women's League side Swindon Supermarine.

He is a UEFA B qualified coach who also possesses a background in performance analysis, having acquired such experience with Cheltenham Town's men's first team and academy sides, as well as within Swindon Town's academy.

He will be joined in the dugout by a coaching team comprising of Owen Warne, Martin Peters and Sam Wood as Bassett enter their fourth season in the South West Regional Women's Football League Premier Division.

While the latter two coaches will remain part of the Ladies' coaching team, Warne will be joining Bassett from Sutton United after moving to Wiltshire from Surrey.

Warne has played football both in the UK and Singapore and, after coaching on and off over the years, served as Sutton's Women's Under 21s Assistant Manager this season, helping guide the team to a mid-table finish in Division Two South of the Greater London Women's Football League.

Following the appointments, Bassett's Head of Ladies Section Bryan Wood said: "I'm delighted to appoint Simon as manager and to add Owen to the team's coaching staff, alongside Martin and Sam."

"We had some strong applicants. But Simon and Owen stood out as high-quality coaches who will help the young squad that we have become better players from a tactical as well as technical perspective."

"The players we have at the club have a lot of potential and we wanted to bring in the right individuals to help them achieve that."

"With the strong coaching team we have, I'm confident that they can help push the team on next season."

Harrison commented: "It's an honour to be offered the manager's role at Royal Wootton Bassett Town and I can't wait to get started. The potential at the club is very exciting and myself, along with the talented coaching team I'll be working with, will be doing all we can to support that potential and make a push to gain promotion."

Warne added: "I'm moving to Royal Wootton Bassett this month from Woking and I can't wait for the opportunity to work with Simon, Sam and Martin to and help push the team on next season".

Last modified on Tuesday 10th May 2022 at 17:46.