Wallace will target promotion with athlone town

EDDIE WALLACE has been appointed the new manager of Athlone Town FC.

Wallace replaces Keith Long, who this morning was confirmed as the new manager of Bohemians. Wallace worked as Keith Long’s assistant with Athlone and has worked as a coach and assistant manager with various league clubs over almost three decades.

In a statement on the club website today, it said ‘Eddie brings a wealth of experience to the club. It is hoped that continuity will be maintained and we will be in a position from a budgetary point of view to support the current squad of players, who it’s intended will be part of the squad for the forthcoming season. We as a club do not wish to repeat the legacy of 18 years as a First Division club and the appointment is a statement of intent to return to Premier football in the shortest possible time’.

Wallace, 65, is widely respected for his keen eye for young talented players and it’s expected he will try to retain as many players as possible from the 2014 squad, which was relegated from the Premier Division on the last day of the season last Friday.

In an interview with the Westmeath Independent's KEVIN O'NEILL - to be printed in next week's Westmeath Independent - Wallace promised Athlone supporters his intention is to get the club promoted back to the Premier Division.

In the statement on the club website, outgoing manager Keith Long was also praised.
‘We (Athlone Town FC) wish Keith every success in his new role and thank him for the hard work, commitment and determination shown by him during his short period with the club and achieving a relative degree of success with the team who had accumulated nil points when he took over as manager’.

See next week’s Westmeath Independent newspaper for an in-depth interview with the Town’s new manager Eddie Wallace.