New Brighton Villa Football Club are delighted to announce the appointment of Shaun Antrobus as first team manager with immediate effect. We are also delighted to announce that current assistant manager Liam Evans will be staying at the club and carrying on his position as Shaun's number two.

Shaun joins us from local North East Wales Championship side CPD Sychdyn having announced his departure in May after a second spell as manager. Antrobus began his managerial career at Sychdyn in 2015 and quickly transformed the club’s fortunes by assembling a squad good enough to claim a league and cup double in the 2016/17 season - the club’s first bit of silverware in 32 years. His side lifted the North East Wales Premier Division title in a dramatic title race which saw them only lose 2 games all season. Following the conclusion of Sychdyn’s greatest season in three decades, the club folded having been unable to achieve the ground criteria required for promotion to the Welsh National League. Shaun quickly moved on to manage Hawarden Rangers’ reserve team and missed out on adding another piece of silverware in the WNL Reserves Division League Cup final of 2019. Ahead of the 2019/20 season, Shaun reformed CPD Sychdyn and led the club to a 5th placed league finish before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the season to a premature halt.

Chairman Leigh Griffiths said, “Following Dave Roberts’ departure to Brymbo FC, we identified Shaun as the ideal candidate for the position and were keen to meet him immediately to discuss the role. Zoe (club secretary) and I were very impressed with his vision and enthusiasm and following successful discussions we are delighted to welcome him to the football club. He came highly recommended as an enthusiastic, ambitious manager who has won trophies in the local area and has assembled exciting squads to compete at the top end of the league table. Appointing Shaun aligns perfectly with what we are looking to achieve here and carries on the good work carried out by his predecessor Dave”.

Griffiths added, “I am also delighted that assistant manager Liam Evans is staying at the club and will be working with Shaun moving forward. Liam is vitally important to the football club and does a lot of unseen hard work behind-the-scenes. Being able to replace Dave and Pete was difficult enough so knowing that Liam is staying put is great to see to ensure there is continuity within the club. I look forward to the new season under their management and am excited about the club’s prospects moving forward. All the best gents”.

Shaun was delighted to be joining the Yellers and went on to say, “In May I decided to take a break from football due to work and other commitments. That was still the plan up until last week when I received a call from the outgoing manager Dave asking if the chairman could contact me regarding the manager role at NBV. Having played and managed against the team over the past 10 years and knowing what a well run club it is, I instantly got the buzz back for football. After I’d met with the chairman Leigh and my new assistant Liam, it was clear we all had the same thoughts on how we can take this club forward and I was made up to be offered the role. I’ve made it clear that in terms of the squad, I’m here to build on the good work put in place by Dave, Pete and Liam over the last few years and work with the lads already here as this group of players are more than capable of competing in the new Tier 4 league. I’m looking forward to the new challenge and can’t wait to get started".

Shaun met the majority of the squad last night at training and will be looking forward to meeting and working with the remainder of the squad on Thursday. All at New Brighton Villa Football Club would like to welcome Shaun to the club and we wish him every success in his new role as we look forward to the new season.

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