James Kinsey has been appointed first-team manager at Stalybridge Celtic as the football club embarks on a new era.

The Tameside outfit announced the news on Wednesday afternoon (31 May). 

The 31-year-old succeeds Chris Willcock, who left last week after a year in charge. 

He joins after Nigel Jones and Paul Bowden became the club's joint majority shareholders following agreeing a deal to purchase Rob Gorski's shares in the club. 

Kinsey will have a tough rebuilding job on his hands after Stalybridge were relegated from the NPL Premier Division to the fourth tier of the non-league pyramid. 

He arrives at Bower Fold after a successful five-year spell at Wythenshawe Town, where he took the club from the Cheshire Premier Division to two third-placed finishes in the North West Counties Premier Division. 

"It feels really good to be here," Kinsey told Stalybridge Celtic's media team after putting pen to paper. 

"We’ve had some brilliant experiences at Wythenshawe and we’re hoping we can use that to push this club forward. Stalybridge Celtic is a big club, there’s no denying that. We want to get the community on board and if we do that, I think we’ll all do very well together.

“We’re really excited to get to work. We’ve got a good coaching team coming in and we’ll be working very hard to get things in motion ready for the new season." 

Joint majority shareholder Nigel Jones added: “James is a great guy. I’ve worked with him for the last three years and know him really well.

“James and his team will look to bring the best squad together as quickly as we can and I am excited to see where James and his team can take the club both on and off the pitch.”

Kinsey's first taste as a manager in senior football came in May 2017, when he became the manager of East Manchester FC.

A successful 10 months led him to Wythenshawe Town, where the club finished high enough to be placed into the North West Counties Division One South after the NWCFL restructure.

In his first full season in the North West Counties Division One South, they finished fifth before sitting in third place during the 2019-20 season before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. His side had reached the First Division Cup Semi Final and the FA Vase third round.

The 2020-21 season was cut short due to the pandemic but, with Wythenshawe Town in first place after seven wins from their opening seven games, they were promoted to the North West Counties Premier Division on points per game, after the two covid-hit seasons were merged.

The 2021-22 season saw the newly promoted side finish third behind Macclesfield FC and Skelmersdale United, whilst also reaching the FA Vase Quarter Finals after entering in the First Qualifying Round. He was named North West Counties Premier Division Manager of the Year for his team’s achievements.


Last season, Wythenshawe made more progress and beat their previous points total, finishing third for the second successive season.

They impressively reached the Manchester Premier Cup Final, losing out 3-0 to NPL Premier Division side Radcliffe and in total, scored 125 goals in all competitions. 

Kinsey's backroom team has already taken shape, with Dan Whiteside joining as assistant manager and Nick Farrington as first-team coach. Reece Bogart will also become the club's new goalkeeper coach. 

Dan has been by James’ side in the dugout dating back to 2017, when the duo were at East Manchester FC. He joined James at Wythenshawe Town and now makes the move to Celtic.

Nick arrives at the club after a successful two years as first-team coach at Leek Town. Last season at Leek, Nick helped the club to a second-placed finish in the NPL Division One West and. in the 2021-22 season where Nick was also first-team coach, Leek finished fourth.

Reece joins the club having gained non-league experience with both Mossley AFC and Stockport Town in previous seasons, whilst he also has his own goalkeeper coaching business.

Stalybridge has also confirmed that the club will be holding a fans forum on Monday 5 June at 7pm at Bower Fold Events, where supporters can meet the new manager and one of the new joint majority shareholders Nigel Jones. 

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