Warrington Town have confirmed the return of Paul Carden as the club’s new manager.
His appointment follows the departure of his former assistant Mark Beesley.
Carden, 45, was previously manager at the Cal.Delivery Stadium between 2016 and 2021, leading the club to Northern Premier League play-off glory in 2019, but was cruelly denied the chance to manage the club in National League North due to the one-time super play-off concept.
The following two seasons were wiped off due to COVID, with the Yellows well placed on both occasions, and so when AFC Telford United came knocking in November 2021, the club felt right to enable Carden to make the step up.
After taking over Telford on nine points that season, he steered them to safety in National League North.
During his time at Warrington Town, Carden enjoyed a win percentage of 50% from 222 games and was on an unbeaten run of nine games when he left, following a 2-2 draw at Mickleover.
The majority of the play-off final winning team were recruited when he was manager, with several still at the club including the likes of Evan Gumbs, Matty McDonald, Josh Amis and Jay Harris.
He has previous experience of managing in the National League with both Southport and Tranmere Rovers and is well respected following a long career playing in the Football League for the likes of Rochdale, Cambridge United, Peterborough and Chester.
His arrival at the club previously helped take it to the next level, and he is well aware of the challenges and future development plans in place, which includes the work being done with the youth teams to produce players capable of representing the club at first team level.
After fielding more than 50 enquiries since the news broke at the weekend, it soon became apparent that there would be no one better for the job of establishing the Yellows as a solid National League club, with the prospects of kicking on further, than Carden, and so moves were made to make it happen.
The club would like to thank Nantwich Town, where Carden has been in charge since February 2023, for their co-operation in making the deal happen.
Assistant manager Nigel Keogh and goalkeeper coach Mark Canning will remain in their respective roles, after taking charge of today’s home game against Spennymoor Town.
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