Preston North End Women are delighted to announce the appointment of Luke Swindlehurst as the Club’s new manager.
Swindlehurst comes in to replace previous manager Luke Podmore, who stepped down due to his playing commitments with North West Counties side Stockport Town FC.
The 30-year-old will be in his second spell as manager after being in charge during the 2011/12 season and returns with a fantastic CV, which includes spells at Liverpool Ladies and Sheffield FC Ladies.
Swindlehurst, a UEFA A License coach, comes with high recommendation from Liverpool Ladies manager Matt Beard and his coaching honours include FAWSL 1 (2013), FAWPL Northern League (2013) and FAWPL League Cup (2013).
Speaking of his appointment, Swindlehurst said: "I'm delighted to be back at Preston and have a clear vision for how we will be moving forward into next season.”
“I've been fortunate enough over the last few seasons to have gained experience and success with Liverpool and Sheffield, both of which were excellent environments to coach and develop personally.”
“I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Matt Beard and Helen Mitchell [of Sheffield FC Ladies] and players at both clubs for the experiences I've accumulated.”
“Having previously managed Preston, I have a very good understanding of how the Club currently works and the areas that we will look to strengthen." Luke continued, speaking of his previous spell at the Club.
"My personal objective is to build a team that can compete for every competition and that process will be an enjoyable challenge.”
“The key element to success will be creating the right environment for our players to develop and I'm confident that myself and my new coaching team will be able to do that.
"I've been very impressed with how our committee have already moved very quickly to execute some of the requirements needed to push us forward."
The new boss has already been busy bringing in backroom staff and the new coaching team at Preston North End will include the following:
First team squad
Chris Williams - Assistant Manager
Elliot Hollings - 1st Team Coach
Mark Partington - GK Coach
Tom Sellers - 1st Team Analyst
Development squad
David Dewhurst - Manager
Andy Taylor - Assistant Manager
Paul Baddeley - First Team Coach
Connor Redfearn - GK Coach