Bracknell Town have appointed former Hungerford Town boss Bobby Wilkinson as manager of the BetVictor Isthmian League side.
Wilkinson has an impressive pedigree as a manager, he was the man in charge at Hungerford as they climbed the non league football pyramid to where they currently play in the Vanarama National League South.
The Crusaders won two promotions under Wilkinson and also reached two FA Trophy Quarter Finals before leaving the club in August 2017.
Wilkinson subsequently joined fellow National League South side Wealdstone in 2017 but departed in May 2019 after guiding the Stones to the play off semi finals.
Related: All of Bracknell Town’s managers in the 21st century
Former boss Mark Tallentire had been, according to a statement released by the club, in interim charge following the sacking of Sam Lock in late October.
At the time, Stephen Peters, the clubs Head of Football matters said to the Bracknell News: “With Tally and Steads [Aaron Steadman] now taking the lead, we have a wonderful mix of experience and innovative management ideas. Both will get our full support in their transitional period.”
Tallentire recently brought back popular former boss Geoff Warner to the club from Burnham, while chairman and CEO Kayne Steinborn-Busse confirmed his intention to step down from his role.
The full Bracknell Town statement
Posted on the Bracknell Town FC website: We are delighted to announce our new full-time first-team manager as Bobby Wilkinson
Over the past 6 months, the club has gone from strength to strength with the introduction of our International & Domestic Academy, both offering long term stability for the club. However, rather disappointingly our first team has not been as progressive and has lost significant ground with regards to our expectations. The clubs ambitions remain the same, we want to climb the non-league pyramid, however, at this stage, we find ourselves in the poorest form since this project started 4 years ago. For the record, the club would like to thank Mark Tallentire for undertaking the role of first-team interim manager over the past 7 weeks and his introduction has been crucial in landing the long term services of Bobby. Tally will remain an integral part of the club and will return to his role on the board supporting the growth of the club he loves.
Bobby arrives with huge pedigree, experience and a wealth of knowledge around the non-league circuit. His track record of success at every club he’s been is second to none and his passion for the game is infectious. Stephen Peters BTFC Technical Director mentions, “I’ve known Bobby for 15 years or so, at one stage we were in conversations regarding working together back in Bobby’s days at Hungerford Town. He’s a true football man, he lives, breathes and sleeps football, he’s an incredibly passionate person that expects his colleagues and players to work as hard as he does, in the pursuit of success. As a club we do expect our players to wear our shirt with pride and give everything for the cause, to include every player from our U7s to the first team”.
As a club, we have a long term vision and are extremely excited regarding the clubs’ short and long term future.
Bobby and his team will take their first training session on Thursday 11th December and will be in the dugout on Saturday against high flying, Hanwell Town.
