MIKE Kelly has been appointed as Ramsbottom manager on a permanent basis after guiding the club to third place in the NWCL First Division.

Kelly took control of team affairs, along with Mike Feeney, following the sudden death of boss Ken Bridge at the end of February.

And the 38-year-old former Ramsbottom goalkeeper has now had his position rubber-stamped, with current keeper Keith Neild named as his number two.

Mike Feeney has decided to step down after six years on the backroom staff.

Kelly had always been the club's choice as Bridge's successor, once other duties had been sorted out to allow himself to commit himself to his first managerial role.

He said: "I love it at Ramsbottom. It's the longest I have ever been at any non-league club and, with all the work people are putting in behind the scenes, they deserve a little bit of success.

"But it's not going to be any easier next season, because everyone wants to improve.

"The initial thing is to better what we did last season. That's always the aim. It was always Ken's aim and I'm not going to change that. If we beat 88 points maybe we'll win the league, I don't know."

Kelly is looking to keep the majority of his current squad and will also seek to add some new faces to put together another title chase next term.

"I would like to get to the Unibond League and that was influential in my decision," he added.

Ramsbottom secretary John Maher said: "We knew what Mike was capable of and he's done very well since the time that Ken died.

"We were always quite happy that he would be the right guy for us."

And Maher also paid tribute to the efforts of Feeney, who had been with the club since their promotion to the North West Counties League, managing the reserves for four seasons before assisting Bridge.

"He's done a fantastic job and we're sorry to see him go, but that's his decision," Maher added.