Ashes hero Steve Harmison named as new Ashington manager
Monday 9 February 2015 09:19, UK
Former England fast-bowler Steve Harmison takes charge of his first football match on Tuesday - as the surprise new manager of non-league Ashington.
Ashington - currently 16th in Division One of the Ebac Northern League - confirmed his appointment on Sunday and his first match in charge will be against Bishop Auckland on Tuesday.
Harmison, who played played for the club briefly as a centre back when a teenager, joins head coach Ian Skinner and Lee Anderson as part of a new management team at Woodhorn Lane.
His appointment comes after a 4-0 league defeat at Marske United at the weekend, the club's sixth loss in as many games, a run that stretches back to Boxing Day.
The club, located near Newcastle, confirmed that the 36-year-old has been appointed with immediate effect as part of a three-man coaching team that chairman Ian Lavery says has "a wealth of experience in the sporting world." His father is a former assistant manager of the club.
Harmison played 63 Tests and 58 one-day internationals as a fast bowler for England, and was part of two Ashes-winning teams before retiring from cricket in 2013.
Ashington is a name synonomous with football in the north-east of England - Bobby and Jack Charlton were both born there as was their uncle, Newcastle's second-highest goal scorer Jackie Milburn.
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