FORMER Burnley star Billy Rodaway has been named as Accrington Stanley's new manager.

And chairman Eric Whalley said today: "I believe we have got the right man."

Rodaway, who played nearly 250 League games for Burnley, takes over with immediate effect, though caretaker-boss Steve Haw will pick the team for Stanley's final match of the season at Winsford on Saturday.

He has a good pedigree in non-League football and ambitious Crown Ground chief Whalley feels he has finally found the man to take the club forward on the field.

"I have a gut feeling this is the right appointment," said the chairman.

"He is as keen as mustard, he knows the non-League scene well and he has worked at the top end of it.

"I am sure he will be able to attract the right kind of players to ensure the club progresses.

"It was vital that we appointed somebody who knows non-League football through and through and he has a lot of experience.

"He has also been to Wembley twice when he was assistant manager of Runcorn." Stanley have had a troubled season on the field and managerial changes have come thick and fast.

But Whalley accepts the need for stability if they are to achieve their first ambition of reaching the Conference. The club is successful and solvent off the field but results have been disastrous.

Rodaway is very experienced in non-League football, having been assistant manager of Halifax, Runcorn and Morecambe. Until recently, he was coach at Altrincham.

He also played non-League after his full-time career at Burnley, Peterborough, Blackpool and Tranmere, was over.

Runcorn, Altrincham and Colne Dynamoes, where he enjoyed an FA Vase final win, were among his non-League clubs.

In two spells at Turf Moor, Rodaway played more than 300 senior games in total, primarily as a central defender.

His last match was in the "Orient game" of 1987 when Burnley narrowly achieved Football League survival.

Stanley are now hoping he is the man to turn things round.

Whalley's search for a new man has taken in some of the best-known names in non-League football.

John King and Brian Kettle were two of the people he approached before finally settling on Rodaway, whose appointment was confirmed today.

Previous sport story

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.