New coach Coyles had ‘no hestitation’ in joining Ashington

Coyles had a ‘watching brief’ at Northallerton on Saturday where a goal in the first half goal by striker Dan Maguire resulted in the Colliers winning their fourth league game in a row.

Until recently, Coyles - a UEFA ‘A’ license coach - was manager at Consett and led the Steelmen to promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One East following a play off win against Histon at the end of last season.

“They say a week is a long time in football but I didn’t think five days was - and that’s how long it took before I got back into football with Ashington,” said Coyles.

“I had no hesitation in wanting to join the club. They are making all the right noises and their ambitions and aspirations match mine and when you commit 100 per cent into something you want to know that there is a purpose behind it.

"I only had a 15-20 minutes conversation with Ian Skinner and he sold the club to me really well and you only have to look at their social media platforms and the crowds which they are generating for home games.

"Everything that Ian (Skinner) has done has been to a certain level – and that’s something which I would love to immerse myself in and be involved with.”

The 37 year old – an assistant professor in sports coaching and PE at Northumbria University - continued: “Funnily enough at the start of the season we (Ian Skinner and myself) both actually tried to get each other to join allegiances with our respective clubs - but I didn’t think it would be me making the switch to Ashington! We’ve got a good level of respect between each other. We’ve both been around the footballing scene for a lot of years and I’d like to think that our styles and the way we look at the game will marry up well and will compliment each other.”

Manager Skinner said: “Andy was somebody who was available and I know his qualities and his strengths. His CV speaks for itself in terms of qualifications and the job he does. He’s got experience in getting teams promoted out of the Northern League -which is what we at Ashington want to do.

"Obviously we needed to bring somebody in to help and Andy fitted the bill.”