We are delighted to announce that former Wales Under 21 midfielder Lee Fowler has today been appointed 1st team manager of Flint Town United.
Lee’s playing career included stints at an array of clubs within the English game including Coventry City, Huddersfield Town, Fleetwood Town, Doncaster Rovers, Forest Green Rovers and Wrexham amongst others. After hanging up his boots, he moved into coaching and management, and was most recently manager of Radcliffe in the NPL Premier League.
Born in Cardiff, and now resident in Chester, Lee won a total of 12 caps for Wales U21’s.
We are pleased to welcome Lee to the Essity Stadium and we hope his time here is an enjoyable and successful one.
Chairman Darryl Williams admitted the last few days had been particularly fraught for the club, but was relieved things had now been settled and was delighted with his new appointment. He told us “Lee is well versed in all aspects of the game and I’m sure he will prove to be a big asset to the club. Of course he will need to hit the ground running and his main priority will be to strengthen the squad following our recent departures, and I welcome the chance to work with him in achieving our goals”
Lee spoke of his delight in returning to football management. admitting that since leaving Radcliffe in October last year, he had turned down several opportunities within the English system, but felt that now was the right time to come back to the game and the chance to manage within the Welsh Premier was one he couldn’t turn down. During his playing days he had several pre-season games for the club under Paul Davies, and at the end of his career also played for Holywell Town. He is a keen student of the Cymru Premier, and has been regularly taking in games at Connah’s Quay and TNS, so is well aware of the standard required and the challenges that lie ahead.
But he is determined to play his own way, and concentrate on an attacking brand of football which should excite the supporters.
However, he admitted that he is four weeks behind in terms of preparations compared to other clubs in the league, so will need to tailor things accordingly in the short term, and that should mean plenty of opportunities for our up and coming Academy players to impress in our opening pre-season games.
On his immediate priorities, Lee cited the need to speak to the remaining players from last season’s squad, so that he can can a better understanding of them and also that they are aware of what’s expected from him. He didn’t rule out further departures, but stressed he was keen to work with the players where possible providing they buy into his vision for the club. Having ;lost so many of last season’s squad already, new player recruitment is obviously key, and he said that this will likely come from outside of the Cymru Premier league, as he will look to use his network and contacts within the English league system.
In terms of Backroom appointments, Lee said that his first choice would hopefully be to use the existing resources at the club, such as Academy Director Danny Bell and some of the senior players. As meetings progress over the course of the next week or so, things will become clearer on this front.
Pre-Season preparations will cover three key areas. Initially, he will look to concentrate on players’ fitness levels, before getting them accustomed to his style of play, before focussing on tactics. Lee said his approach to coaching was to keep things as simple as possible, and not over complicate things.
Finally, in terms of aims for the new season, Lee said that we must be realistic, and take it week by week, especially in terms of our late start, but nevertheless he would look to field a competitive team, with a creative and good style of play, and see where that gets us.
After all the recent bad news, hearing Lee speak was like a breath of fresh air, so let the journey begin and let’s give the new manager our full support as we enter the Fowler Era !
