New Addition to Coaching Staff

Newton Aycliffe FC is pleased to announce that Andy Coyles has joined Brian Atkinson’s coaching staff.

Andy, a Uefa ‘A’ licence coach, is a professor and practitioner in sport coaching/PE at Northumbria University and away from Newton Aycliffe, is the Head Coach of the England Universities Men’s National Team.

Over a 17 year period, Andy has been heavily involved working within high performance environments, coaching at three of the leading Premier League football academies. His roles consisted of coaching young elite footballers at academy level, nurturing the best young talent in and around Manchester and the surrounding areas.

Before embarking on a coaching career and relocating to Manchester to study in the early 2000s, Andy played for Workington in the Northern Premier League under the management of Tommy Cassidy.

Since relocating to the North East, Andy has enjoyed several successful spells in management. His first role saw him team up with former Workington and Shildon player Kyle May to take charge of Penrith, who had managed just six points in the first half of the season. Together, they guided the team to safety, securing Northern League status with a respectable 12th-place finish.

From there, Andy moved to Consett, where he teamed up with Terry Mitchell, now the assistant manager at Darlington. When Mitchell departed to take charge of Blyth Spartans, Andy was swiftly appointed as Consett's manager and led the Steelmen to promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One East following a play off win against Histon at the end of the 2021/22 season. It wasn’t long after that Andy decided to join Ashington in which he was part of Ashington’s promotion success during the 22/23 beating Glossop North End 3-0 in the Inter-step play off, securing promotion to the Northern Premier League East division. 

In addition to Andy’s current coaching roles at Newton Aycliffe and with England Universities, he also works with the Northumbria University Men’s First Team, who recently secured both the league title and the National Trophy with a 3-0 victory over the University of Surrey at Loughborough.

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Brian and Alan for the opportunity to join the management team. This is an exciting project to be a part of, and I’m truly looking forward to collaborating with such a talented group of individuals. I’m confident that, together, we can accomplish great things, and I’m eager to contribute to the continued success and growth of the football club. Having been here for three weeks now, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting back on the grass and working with players who are not only passionate about their football but are also committed to learning and improving as individuals. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of this journey so far, and I can’t wait to see what we achieve together”.

Brian Atkinson said: “I’m really pleased that Andy has agreed to join us for this season. Andy’s a talented coach with a proven track record at this level. His skill & experience will be a massive benefit to Richie and I as Newton Aycliffe enters our third season of Step 4 football.”