Shropshire Star

Market Drayton Town appoint Steve McCormick

Steve McCormick has been appointed Market Drayton Town’s new manager, taking over from former boss Martyn Davies, who resigned last week.

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He steps up from assistant manager, a position he has held on and off for a decade, initially as deputy to the club’s most successful boss, Simon Line, but also the present club chairman, Mick Murphy, and ultimately, Davies.

Continuity was the keynote to his appointment, said chairman Murphy. “We wanted someone to build on what has been achieved and Steve has been with us for 12 years and knows what makes our teams tick,” he said.

“We had a great deal of interest from outside the club; a lot of applications to consider - but continuity had to be paramount.”

Town’s directors prove the point of this policy by moving first team coach Nick Roberts up to McCormick’s job as assistant manager and promoting his number two, John Timmis.

McCormick was a highly effective, if much-travelled striker in his early playing days as a full-time professional with Scottish clubs Queens Park, Stirling Albion - where his 25 goals in a season were instrumental in them winning promotion - Dundee, Clydebank and Dumbarton.

A move to English soccer started with a spell with Lyton Orient and he spent time with Welsh clubs Newtown, Connah’s Quay and Cwmbran before joining Town as a crafty, seasoned spearhead to their glory years under Simon Line.

As his playing options subsided, he became more committed off the field, to the point that he even returned to Greenfields after fighting off a serious illness that threatened to cut short any involvement in football.