Tommy Widdrington appointed King’s Lynn manager - makes immediate impact in first match

Bristol Rovers’ former director of football Tommy Widdrington has been appointed as manager of King’s Lynn and he made the perfect start.

He held a number of differing roles during his time at Rovers, working as a caretaker manager on two occasions. Widdrington he also held the post as loan manager after his role as director of football was lessened following the arrival of Joey Barton.

Widdrington only left the Memorial Stadium last week but he was straight back into the world of football by dropping down a division to the National League.

Keen to return to management, the 50-year-old was unveiled as the new manager of strugglers King’s Lynn on Friday, succeeding Ian Culverhouse.

"It’s happened very, very quickly and I’m delighted," he said to Lynn News on Friday at his unveiling.

"It’s a part of me that I haven’t been doing a lot of in recent history but it’s something I’m comfortable doing.

"I’ve managed football clubs, I’ve managed managers to manager football clubs, and I’ve sometimes not quite managed managers to manage football clubs well enough, but I think as long as there’s a clear pathway between the top of the club through the football department, I can’t see why the way I do things won’t work here."

He is no stranger to the semi-professional game given he managed clubs like Salisbury City, Hemel Hempstead and Eastbourne Borough before arriving at the Mem.

In need of fresh impetus, the Norfolk team’s new boss made an immediate impact by guiding them to a first home win of the season.

King’s Lynn defeated fellow strugglers Dover Athletic, who are on minus points, 2-0 thanks to another former Gas man, Josh Barrett.

After his contract was terminated by Bristol Rovers in September, Barrett dropped into the non-league and opened his league account with two goals on Saturday.

It seems that King’s Lynn’s new manager Widdrington will perhaps build his team around his match winner on Saturday, given the pair have already worked at two clubs. In his role as chief scout at Coventry City, he suggested Barrett to Coventry City and then Rovers.

A string of wins will have to be put together if they want to preserve their status in the fifth tier however as even after Saturday’s win, they remain in 22nd place, occupying one of the three relegation places.

They are four points adrift of safety and are involved in a relegation battle with Southend United, who were only relegated from the Football League last season.