Crawley Town Football Club is delighted to announce that Matthew Etherington has been appointed as the new First-Team Manager. Etherington joins the club from Peterborough, where he was serving as the Posh’s U23 manager. The former West Ham United winger joins on an initial 18-month contract.
Matthew will be joined by Simon Davies, who joins the club as Assistant Manager. The pair have a long history together, having known each other since the age of 11. The pair began their playing careers at the Posh before both signing for Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur. Davies also joins from Peterborough, where he was serving as Etherington’s assistant in the U23 setup at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Etherington had a prosperous playing career, which spanned over 17 years and included spells with Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Stoke in the top flight of English football. Matthew, who is commonly known as Matty, featured regularly for England youth teams from U16 to U21 level.
The former winger began his coaching career at the Posh, where he initially joined as U18’s manager. Etherington stepped up to be Assistant Manager in 2021 before taking control of the Posh as interim manager in the February of this year. After his spell as interim manager, Matty assumed control of the U23’s, where he was joined by Davies.
Upon joining the Reds, Matthew Etherington said: I am extremely excited. This is a great opportunity for both myself and Simon, and we are raring to go. I have had really positive discussions with the owners over a period of time. I met Chris a few days ago, and it is clear to see that this club is set up to be successful. I have known Simon since we were 11. He is a very important person to me and is an excellent coach so I am delighted that he is joining me here. The biggest thing for me is attacking and scoring goals. If you can get that right, along with a lot of other things, you have always got a chance. I am really looking forward to meeting the lads and getting started at Southwater tomorrow.”
Director of Football Chris Galley said: “I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Matthew and Simon to the club. They both impressed me during the recruitment process, and it was clear to see that their ambitions match those of the club. We are well into the season now and are naturally wanting to push our way up the table as much as possible. I am confident that Matthew and Simon are the right people to ensure that happens. I would also like to thank Peterborough for their help in this process and for allowing us to take two valuable members of their coaching staff. This is a great opportunity for the pair of them, and I can’t wait to start working with them.”
Speaking on Matthew’s appointment, Co-Chairman Preston Johnson said: “Lewis Young served the club excellently and steadied the ship in what was a difficult time after we had to let go of Kevin Betsy and Dan Micciche, and I would personally like to thank him for his service. We are looking forward to building our relationship with both Matthew and Simon. We are very confident that they are the right candidates for the job. It was clear to us that the pair of them are data-driven in their approach, which is paramount for us and will be an even bigger focus for CTFC going forward. Matthew is somebody who is willing to take risks and play aggressively, and we are looking forward to watching him in action next Saturday against Swindon.”
A full interview with Matthew will be released later this evening.
Matthew and Simon will take charge of their first training session tomorrow morning.
