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Backroom staff strengthened

Having finalised the playing squad (click here for story) FC United’s Manager, Karl Marginson, gave us the lowdown on the coaching staff who’ll be supporting him in the coming season.

Margy explained: "I wanted to create a strong team of coaches who will all work together on the playing side of this club. Each coach might have their own specialities, but they know it’s just as important that they’re all part of a single team pulling in the same direction."??

Here’s Margy’s new coaching line up:

Assistant Manager
Experienced coach, Roy Soule, has recently joined FC United as Margy’s assistant. Roy has been working in America for a few years, but made an unexpected return to the UK for family reasons and immediately looked us up. Roy is very familiar with FC United and previously linked up with our coaching team several times when he was visiting his native Manchester during the USA close seasons. Roy began his football career as a Manchester United schoolboy, then overcame the disappointment of being released by United to carve a career playing and later coaching at a variety of clubs, including Crewe, Grimsby, Oldham and Rotherham, where he signed a young Karl Marginson.

Margy said: "It is a huge bonus that Souley can now be a regular member of the coaching staff. When he’s helped us out before it’s always been useful for me to pick his brains. He’ll be a great addition to our backroom team now he’s back in this country."

Head of Player Development
Darren Lyons continues as a first team coach, the role he’s had since FC United’s formation, but last season he also took on the responsibility for developing our Youth set up. We’ve seen the benefits of this closer liaison with our Youth teams with several promising youngsters breaking into the first team squad this year.

Margy praised Darren’s contribution saying: "It was a lot to ask of Daz, but he’s been great at keeping tabs on the youngsters and we can already see the difference that’s made."

Goalkeeping Coach
Arguably one of the best signings we made last close season was that of Karl Lenaghan, who was previously Bradford Park Avenue’s goalkeeping coach. Since Karl’s arrival we’ve seen Sam Ashton hit top form and he deservedly won the manager’s player of the season award. Former youth team keeper, Grant Shenton, has also benefitted from specialist goalkeeping coaching and has featured in several of the pre-season games.

Karl Marginson readily acknowledges the input his namesake has had: "Karl Lineghan’s been a real boost and not only for the keepers. He’s got loads of experience and now he’s settled in I reckon we can tap into his broader football knowledge too."

First Team Coach
We’re delighted to welcome back popular former player, Dave Brown, Margy said: "Dave brings a new dimension, because he’s the only one of our coaches who started as a regular member of the playing squad at FC United, so he understands things from the players’ viewpoint. We’re very pleased he’s come back to us to try his hand at coaching."

Pete Freakes and Andy Whiteman - Pete continues in his role as manager of our Under 18s North West Youth Alliance team, with Andy as his assistant. Pete and Andy coached our Youth team to a fabulous treble last season, but they know their greatest achievement is teaching the next generation how to play in the FC United way and this has already led to several lads graduating to the first team squad.


First Posted ~ 12:05 Mon 17 Aug 2009
News ID ~ 2368
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021