Ashington FC are delighted to announce our new management team as Andy Coyles and Richie Hill, as they will be stepping into the head coaches’ roles for the upcoming 2024/25 season.

Having previously served as part of the management team along with outgoing Manager Ian Skinner, Coyles and Hill are already well-acquainted with the club. Andy and Rich have shown a clear understanding towards our fans passion and loyalty surrounding the football club and acknowledge in full, the demands of the Northern Premier League.

Andy, a Uefa ‘A’ licence coach, is an assistant professor and practitioner in sport coaching/PE at Northumbria University in Newcastle, and away from Ashington is the head coach of the England Universities National Team. Andy was also part of the club’s promotion success during the 22/23 season working alongside Ian Skinner.

Richie, also a Uefa ‘A’ licence coach has previous experiences at Hartlepool United FC followed by Spennymoor Town, where he was involved in their successful youth set up. In addition to that, Richie has also spent time at Middlesbrough FC’s academy where he was their lead U14’s-U16’s coach.

Andy and Richie share the same beliefs and values surrounding the game, and their strong working relationship will bring great enthusiasm and energy to the football club.

Both coaches’ have a wealth of experience of the non-league landscape and have previous experience of working together at Consett AFC.

Our new management team outlined “we are both delighted and honoured to be appointed as the new management team, here at Ashington. We know that the club has a proud history and we regard it as an honour and a privilege to be appointed at such an exciting time, both on and off the field. We have by far, one of the best supported clubs in the North East and we are both looking forward to sharing this journey together.”

Ian Skinner commented on the appointments, stating, “The decision to retain Andy and Richie reflects our commitment to building on the successes of last season and our survival at this level. Their understanding of the club and the league, coupled with their connection with the dressing room, was exactly what we were looking for.”

Brian Shotton added, “we had a meeting with some of the new board members to get to know Andy and Richie, it was clear following discussion straight after the meeting that this was the direction we wanted to head. They had answers to all the questions we had and aligned with where we saw the club headed next season. Last season was a difficult one with the rising costs around the club, which were generally out of our control, therefore having a coaching team bought into our overall mission for Ashington was key for us.”

As we push forward in a new chapter, we extend our gratitude to Ian Skinner for his contribution to the club as well as steering us into this league as a manager. Skinner will maintain a role as a Director at the club.

We look forward to next season to continue the journey and maintain the legacy of Ashington FC.