The successful Northampton Town Ladies team have seen a change of management over the summer as the squad prepare for life at a higher level.
Gary Moss and Steve Croft took over the Ladies first team in 2017/18 season and enjoyed success, winning the League Cup and County Cup and narrowly missing out on promotion in their first season.
The 2018/19 campaign saw them take things a step further, winning promotion to the East Midlands Premier Division.
At the end of the 2018/19 season, both managers made the difficult decision to take a step back from the first team as promotion brings with it more travelling and training time required, and with both having young families they made the decision to step aside and work with other teams in the club's infrastructure.
The players, assistant manager Sarah Marrison and club secretary Kim Birtwistle would like to thank both for giving up their time over the past few years to take the team to where they have and even though they won’t be leaving the club, they will be missed by all.
The search therefore began for their replacements and Club Secretary, Kim Birtwistle had a tough task on her hands. After a extensive recruitment process, the decision was made to appoint two coaches who are already in the Northampton Town Ladies & Girls pathway, Josh Oldfield and Lou Barry (pictured).
Kim said, “I have worked with Lou and Josh now for over two years, both previously being part of our Elite girls pathway and currently coaching within our youth set up and in Josh's case, also within the male academy. I thought they would be a perfect fit for the Ladies first team and will bring a lot knowledge and expertise to the team. Lou and Josh will be supported by Sarah Marrison as assistant coach with also support from Rob Hillery from time to time.
“We have an excellent team in place to take over this successful Northampton Town Ladies squad and push on for the 2019/20 season. Lots of exciting things are in the pipeline for the new season and everyone can’t wait to get started.”
For more information on the Northampton Town Ladies team please contact Kim Birtwistle by email at kim.birtwistle@ntfc.co.uk