Longwell To Leave Fylde As Coasters Look To Future

He has announced David Longwell has left the club after taking charge for the final time against Barnet on Bank Holiday Monday.

Former Premier League Golden Boot winner Kevin Phillips replaced Chris Beech in October but left the club in February. Longwell enjoyed a positive start but was unable to prevent the club slipping to a second relegation in three years.

The search is on for a new head coach to lead the club on their National League North return in August.

The Coasters finished second from bottom with three different managers and in a statement, Haythornthwaite accepted he has made a number of mistakes.

He wrote: “As the late Queen Elizabeth said in 1992 following a particularly harrowing year for her family, and the monarchy in general, it’s been ‘annus horribilis’. I think the same can be said about this season.

“Ever since my involvement with the club going back to 2007, we’ve had our high and lows and thankfully, far more highs than lows. What makes football both great and frustrating is that there is no recipe or guarantee for success, and although money helps, it guarantees absolutely nothing at any level, just look at Manchester United and Chelsea.

“I can guarantee that no one involved in those two clubs set out to fail, every one of them had the best intentions and believed they were doing the right thing. However, money spent unwisely, be it on players or managers will reap scant reward and the same applies to us here at AFC.

“Ultimately, we, (in the main me) have either made bad decisions or allowed others to do so, resulting in the worst summer recruitment since I became involved.

“When it came down to it, the players on the park were simply not good enough for this standard of football and David Longwell alluded to this in his interview after the Tamworth game.

“It’s easy to blame others, but ultimately it’s what they are paid to do, BUT, in the end I have to sign it off, be it the wages, the length of contract, the signing on fee, the agents fees, etc etc. In the final reckoning, I can only blame myself as the proverbial buck stops with me.

“For this I apologise to all concerned. I let you down and I can assure you that no one feels as sick as I do about the situation we find ourselves in. We have to face adversity everyday of life in some shape or form, but it’s how we deal with it that defines us as individuals or organisations.”

Confirming a change of direction, he went on: "This is going to require a complete overhaul of both backroom staff and the playing squad and that work has already begun.

“We have started the search for a new Head Coach who shares our values and vision and everything will follow on from there. On this subject I want to thank David Longwell and Frankie McAvoy for doing their best to keep us up, and wish them the best for the future, both are true gentlemen and professionals in every way.”