Former Blackpool favourite Richie Wellens appointed new Swindon Town manager

The 38-year-old, who made over 200 appearances for the Seasiders in five years, takes over from Phil Brown who was relieved of his duties on Sunday night.

Noel Hunt has been appointed assistant.

On his arrival, Wellens said: “For me, it’s a great opportunity to manage a football club that is well-run, has a good infrastructure, and a tradition, over the last six or seven years, of playing a style that I want to play.

“I want to get the ball down, play positive, quick, passing football and bring results and success to this football club, because at this moment it is underachieving.”

“For me, that style of play is the most important thing, exciting the fans.

“I had my first job at Oldham, which was going fantastically well, but the pitch deteriorated very badly and I had to change the way I played.

“I didn’t want to do that – I won’t have that problem here because the pitch is in fantastic condition.”

Wellens has less than one full season of managerial experience to his name, having been at the helm at Oldham Athletic in League One for the majority of the 2017-18 campaign.

The 38-year-old was appointed at Boundary Park on a temporary basis last September and after guiding the Latics to a five-match unbeaten run, was handed the position on a full-time basis.

However, Oldham were not able to sustain that form for the remainder of the campaign and they were relegated from the third tier by a single point.

Wellens subsequently left the club over the summer in the wake of the Latics’ fall into League Two.

Wellens’ appointment comes after the former midfielder was in the running to take over at Bloomfield Road following Gary Bowyer's resignation just one game into the season.

Bowyer, who has been out of work since August, is said to be one of the front runners for the vacant Shrewsbury Town job.

He is currently second favourite behind former boss Paul Hurst, who was sacked at Ipswich Town last month.