Farsley Celtic appoint ex-Northampton, Hull, Doncaster, Preston, Scunthorpe player

Farsley Celtic appoint ex-Northampton, Hull, Doncaster, Preston, Scunthorpe player Russ Wilcox as their new manager after Neil Ross leaves.

Wilcox, 57, has been out of the dugout since leaving Scunthorpe in 2020, but it now looking to give Farsley a much needed push for survival.

They currently sit bottom of the National League North table, 22nd, with 17 points from 23 games played for the 2021/22 season.

Sitting a place above them is AFC Telford United with 18 points but hand a game in hand over them.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Russ Wilcox as Men’s First Team Manager 👉 https://t.co/biZ6nYVE5i#CeltArmy pic.twitter.com/MzlyMIOPjI

— Farsley Celtic (@FarsleyCelticFC) February 1, 2022

CLUB STATEMENT:

Farsley Celtic are delighted to announce the appointment of Russ Wilcox as Men’s First Team Manager.

The 57-year-old had a lengthy playing career, beginning in the non-league ranks with Frickley Athletic, before going on to play professionally for Northampton Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Preston North End and Scunthorpe United.

It was at Scunthorpe where Wilcox had his first permanent role in management, winning promotion to League One at the first time of asking in 2014.

After taking charge at the Citadel, Wilcox said: “It’s a great opportunity for me to get back managing, it’s been a while, I’ve had a few caretaker roles at Scunthorpe, but I’m itching to get back.

“The process has been good from Farsley’s point of view, they’ve been very professional with everything they’ve done leading up to this announcement, so I can’t wait to get started now.

“I’m going to meet the lads tonight, have our first training session, we’ll train again Thursday and then be ready to go for a difficult game Saturday.

“It’s going to be a tough ask, we’re bottom of the league at the moment, so we can’t go any lower.

“I’m going to try and instil some positivity back into the players, I’ve been there myself as a player when you go through a bad run, it’s very difficult at times to get out of it, you’ve just got to keep working hard and grafting away.

“I’ll be tough with the boys as well, I’ll expect good standards. Even though we’re not full-time, I still want everybody to be as professional as they possibly can, hard working with good attitudes and good application.

“Now it’ll be about doing the basics well really, I think that’s been the downfall. I’ve seen a couple of videos of previous games, and it’s getting the basics right, being good in both boxes, being energetic, hardworking, and grafting for the shirt.

“As a Yorkshireman myself, that’s what the Yorkshire people want to see, they want to see a lad pull his shirt on and give everything for the cause and I’ll demand that from the players.”

Chief Executive Josh Greaves added: “After last Thursday’s departure of Neil Ross, myself and the rest of the board have sat down and had a number of discussions over the last few days, and Russ Wilcox’s name has come up to us.

“We had a conversation with Russ, and we were quite impressed with the CV and calibre of manager he is.

“We’re actually really pleased to have got this over the line, it’s taken a couple of days to do so, and I’m pleased we’ve got it sorted and can move on into a new chapter, we’ve had a tough few months and we’ve just got to keep our heads up and keep moving forwards now.”

Welcome to Farsley, Russ!

WILCOX’S PLAYING CAREER:

1980–1981 – Doncaster Rovers – 1 game (0 goals)
1981–1982 – Cambridge United
1982–1986 – Frickley Athletic – 129 games (19 goals)
1986–1990 – Northampton Town – 138 games (9 goals)
1990–1993 – Hull City – 100 games (7 goals)
1993–1995 – Doncaster Rovers – 81 games (6 goals)
1995–1997 – Preston North End – 62 games (1 goal)
1997–2003 – Scunthorpe United – 118 games (4 goals)
Total – 629 games (46 goals)

National team
1986 – England semi-pro

MANAGERGIAL STATS:

Scunthorpe United (caretaker) – 25 March 2004 until 15 April 2004 – 4 games, 0 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats, 0.0 win %
Scunthorpe United – 20 November 2013 until 8 October 2014 – 45 games, 18 wins, 16 draws, 11 defeats, 40.0 win %
York City – 15 October 2014 until 26 October 2015 – 54 games, 13 wins, 20 draws, 21 defeats, 24.1 win %
Total – 103 games, 31 wins, 38 draws, 34 defeats, 30.1 win %

Twitter users reacted as Farsley Celtic appoint the ex-Northampton, Hull, Doncaster, Preston, Scunthorpe player…

@clarkey_arc: Yes, be there Saturday to hopefully see the start of the bounce back

@1882Tom: Good luck Russ. Get them organised

@gasheads47: Welcome Russ here we go onwards and upwards

@unopinionated_t: Quality bloke, you have a good appointment there.

@juanyenks: What an appointment that is 👏🏻

@jbeech5: Mans holding that shirt like it fucking reeks. Must be one of Dale’s.

@Muppetweeble: I am excited that I had heard of Russ,if as an established quality lower league footballer back in the day, rather than a coach. Hopefully, his vast football experience will stop the rot and FCFC won’t be overrun in midfield every bleeding week!

@tibbott99: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AS IF

@yorkhospball: Didn’t work out for him at City but don’t think it was for the lack of trying. Wish him the best of luck, apart from when he plays York of course. Not many of our ex managers in recent times have gone onto manage again.