Local ties lured Lane to Woods

Once the youngest head coaches in European football when he took charge of Maltese side Naxxar Lions and a UEFA A licensed coach since kicking off his managerial career at Leighton Town back in 1998, Lane, pictured, was named over the weekend as the successor to former long-serving player-manager Mark Burgess.

Lane, whose own playing career at clubs including Yeovil Town, Woking, Bath City, Hayes and Aylesbury United was curtailed by injury, took his first steps into management at Berkhamsted Town in 2003 before enjoying a successful spell as Windsor & Eton boss and three years as first team coach to Johnson Hippolyte at Maidenhead United in National League South.

The new Woods manager, who left the Ryman League's Blues in January after two years at the club, said: “I am delighted to be joining my local club Northwood and take on the challenge of rebuilding the club’s fortunes on the pitch. This is one of the few clubs that I would have dropped into this league for and the pull of managing a club in my own community, working with the excellent people here, was too much to resist.

“I am under no illusions of the size of the task but I’ll be calling on my experience of working with extremely challenging economics, relying on good coaching to improve the club in a progressive way, over time. I am an ambitious person by nature and the club has some good plans for the future. I hope that all those traditional Northwood fans that have maybe drifted away in the past can come back this season and see some football that they can enjoy and get behind."

Burgess left Northwood Park two weeks ago after nearly five years at the helm and Northwood chairman Ian Barry is backing Lane's experience to make the difference in EVO-STIK League Southern Division One Central next season after their third from bottom finish to the 2016-17 campaign.

Barry said: “The response to our advertisement for our new manager was genuinely overwhelming. Following interviews, I’m delighted to announce that Simon is joining the club, and he brings with him a wealth of experience of football at a higher level than ours in recent times and we all look forward to working with him.

"Please give Simon your support, like you did with Mark Burgess, as we take this great club into a new and hopefully successful era.”

Image courtesy of nonleague.pitchero.com

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