Alan Mathews named new Longford boss

Longford Town Football Club have announced the appointment of Alan Mathews as manager. 

The club’s statement confirmed that the selection process proved difficult due to the high calibre of all the candidates but that they are delighted with Alan’s appointment.

This will be Alan’s second stint at The City Calling Stadium after his successful spell as boss between 2002 and 2007, which saw Longford Town reach three FAI Cup Finals and two League Cup Finals. They won the FAI Cup in 2003 and achieved the FAI and League Cup double in 2004.

On his appointment Alan Mathews said, "I am delighted to be back at the club and am very grateful to the Chairman Jim Hanley and the committee for the opportunity. I look forward to working with the players and staff. There is still a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the season and I can assure the fans that we will do everything possible to retain our Premier Division status in the SSE Airtricity League".

Gary Cronin, the Caretaker Manager, will remain in charge for this Saturday's (20^th August) FAI Irish Daily Mail Cup match against Cork City at 7.30pm at The City Calling Stadium.

Mathews, 51, has extensive experience in SSE Airtricity League management. In addition to his previous reign at Longford (in which he won the SWAI Personality of the Year Award in 2003), Mathews has been in charge at Cork City, Shelbourne, Bray Wanderers and Athlone Town.  Cork City won the Setanta Cup during Alan’s single season in charge (2008).  Alan resigned from his most recent job at the Athlone Town Stadium in June, as part of the fall-out from the midlanders’ failure to fulfil a league fixture in Waterford.