Former Leek Town manager Neil Baker has been appointed as the new boss of Northern Premier League West side Newcastle Town.
Baker, who had a spell on the coaching staff at Macclesfield FC following his departure from Leek Town in September, has replaced Paul Moore who was asked to step down from the role this afternoon.
Moore was appointed as manager of Newcastle Town earlier this year as he replaced Robin Van Der Laan at the helm. He took charge with three games to go and, guided the club to important victories over Leek Town and Trafford to help them stay in the Northern Premier League West last season.
This season, under his guidance, Newcastle have secured fantastic wins away at local rivals Nantwich Town, Kidsgrove Athletic and Hanley Town.
His last game as Newcastle Town manager was yesterday’s (Boxing Day) 3-0 defeat away at Leek Town.
In the statement announcing Bakers’ arrival at Newcastle Town, the club said: “We are very happy to announce the appointment of Neil Baker as the club’s new men’s first team manager.
“Neil is no stranger to Town and non-league fans, having recently spent 6 tremendous years at local rivals Leek Town, narrowly missing out on promotion on several occasions.
“Previous to his time at Leek, Neil spent 23 distinguished years at Crewe Alexandra and is known as a superb coach, who can get the best out of his players.
“We all welcome Neil and wish him a long and successful reign at The Castle.”
The first game of the Neil Baker era at Newcastle Town is on New Years Day as they welcome local rivals Hanley Town to the Red Industries Stadium, kickoff is at 3pm.
You can hear the thoughts of Newcastle chairman Gavin Appleby about the decision and hopefully in the coming days we will hear from Neil Baker.
