WINNINGTON Park have announced that Roger Pickering has been appointed as their new club coach.

He replaces Mark Warr, who stepped down from training the first team after guiding them to fourth place in South Lancs/Cheshire Division One last season.

“There is potential to do even better,” said Pickering.

“This is a big deal for me; it’s a privilege to take on the role at a club where I started to play as a boy.”

Park chairman, Brian Concannon, has asked Pickering to oversee all coaching at Burrows Hill, including the Northwich outfit’s junior section.

He will be on the touchline for first-team games, like last term, on a Saturday.

Pickering said: “Winnington want to continue moving forward with a ‘one club’ philosophy, which has been successful off the field already.

“The plan now is to get all Park teams playing in the same way.

“I have a lot of knowledge and experience coaching youngsters, so it’s an opportunity that excites me a lot.”

He told the Guardian he will announce the names of other members in his management team before the seniors return for pre-season training in July.

A change in focus does not mean the first team is no longer a priority.

“I’m not going to live or die on league positions,” he said.

“I’m more interested in performances.

“We had a successful season, but tailed off a bit towards the end. We want to get to the bottom of why that happened.

“There is room for improvement.”