Athlone Town confirms interim management team

Following the departure of Dário Castelo, Athlone Town AFC has appointed an interim management team for the men's team.

Danny Byrne, Declan Holohan and Robbie Rock will take temporary charge of the team, a spokesperson for Athlone Town has confirmed to the Westmeath Independent.

The trio will remain in charge while the recruitment process to appoint a new manager continues.

Laois native Byrne was part of the management of the Athlone Town U-17 team which won the Mark Farren Cup in 2022, with Kevin Sweeney scoring the winning goal direct from a corner in the final against Cork City.

Holohan is well known locally for his involvement with Willow Park teams, while Rock was previously involved with Longford Town in addition to working with Athlone underage teams.

Athlone Town have two homes games over the Easter weekend as they host Wexford tomorrow night (Good Friday), kick-off 7.45pm, followed by a clash against midlands rivals Longford Town on Monday (5pm).

Castelo departed his role as first team manager by “mutual consent” in the wake of last Friday night's 3-0 defeat to Kerry FC in Tralee.

The defeat leaves Athlone bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division table, level on points with Kerry but with an inferior goal difference.

Yet with just a quarter of the league campaign elapsed, Athlone will still be hopeful of being in contention for a place in the play-offs, with a fifth-placed finish sufficient to do so.