NEIL YOUNG has been tasked with taking Altrincham straight back into Non-League‘s top flight after being announced as the Robins’ new manager.
Alty’s relegation from the National League was confirmed on Saturday evening after the 3-0 defeat at Braintree Town.
Caretaker boss Neil Tolson, who had been in charge since March after Lee Sinnott’s departure, was told he would not be getting the job full-time and Young was confirmed on Sunday.
Young has a number of promotions on his CV with Colwyn Bay and then Chester, who he guided to three straight promotions into Non-League’s top tier.
He most recently managed Stockport County, who he joined last summer, but he quit in January after a run of just one win in 12 games saw them slip down the National League North.
Young is now back in the dugout and will be alongside long-serving assistant manager Gary Jones at Moss Lane.
Young told the Altrincham website: “The challenge is to find the right players to take this club forward, and coming into the position this early gives me the opportunity to recruit the ones we need.
“With Halifax going down and Salford coming up, it’s going to be an incredibly tough league next season, particularly from the point of view of recruiting in the Manchester area. It will probably be the most competitive league for a long time, but I love a challenge and can’t wait to get stuck in.
“There are decisions that have to be made, and I want to get on with them, because we have to give ourselves the best chance of going into the season with a squad equipped to go straight back up. That has to be within the structure of the budget, and I want to make informed decisions about the players already here.
“All but four of them are out of contract, so I need to form opinions pretty quickly. I’ve seen several Altrincham games this season and I watched Saturday’s game on television, and while there was a lot of disappointment surrounding it, there are lads here with a lot of Conference North and Conference National experience who can form the basis of a good squad.”
Chairman Grahame Rowley added: “It was just a horrible day, one of the worst of my life. Neil Tolson suffered abuse that was totally out of order. We were all upset, and I can understand some anger, but perhaps it should have been vented on the players, not the manager.
“It was such a dreadful day, I decided I may as well get all the bad stuff out of the way, so I saw Neil and Matt Doughty afterwards and told them they hadn’t got the job. It wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve had to do.
“But it was important to act decisively and quickly, and that’s why I’m announcing Neil Young as our new manager at the earliest opportunity. He came across as being very professional in his approach, and it soon became clear he was someone who could take us forward.”
