Melledew returns to Newbury
Steve Melledew has taken over as manager of Newbury for a second time
STEVE Melledew has returned to Newbury Football Club as manager - almost two years after he resigned from the position.
Melledew, who has previously had spells in charge of Thatcham Town and Winchester City, has taken over again at Faraday Road, with chairman Keith Moss assisting him alongside club coach, Craig Adey.
The former Everton striker, together with Andy Leader, guided Newbury to a third placed finish in the Hellenic League Division One East in 2008/09, but Melledew resigned just three games into the following season after successive defeats.
However, he has now returned to the club and Moss is hoping he can build on a successful season for Newbury, which saw them just miss out on promotion, finishing third in the league, but winning the Reading Senior Cup on penalties against Flackwell Heath.
Moss said: “We are looking forward to having another successful season, but it would be nice to go one better and get promotion.
”I am sure it will work out this time and we are looking forward to getting going.”
Moss added that several new faces were likely to join the squad for the coming season, although he said experienced goalkeeper Andy Bayliss had left the club to join Fleet Town, while Callum Willmoth and James Mandry have also left to join Thatcham Town.
He added that the management had been encouraged by the turnout at pre-season training last week though, with 28 players attending the first session.
Moss added that training is now continuing on Tuesdays and Thursdays.