West Midlands Regional League Premier Division side Ellesmere Rangers have moved to replace Richard Brown with the appointment of a management duo.

The Beech Grove club announced over the weekend that former Shrewsbury Town man Jamie Haynes and Kevin Sandwith, who had a spell at Chester City, will join the club.

Rangers started the season well under Brown, with a tilt at the title a reasonable expectation at one point, but after a run of poor results, he and his assistant Tim Jackson stepped down.

A statement from the club said: “We are pleased to announce that Jamie and Kevin have agreed to join the club to form the new management team.

“Jamie is an experienced player having started as a professional at Shrewsbury Town and has played for Newtown and Caersws in the Welsh Premier league as well as several clubs in the English non-league scene – Market Drayton Town, Leek Town, Newcastle Town and Redditch.

“Kevin has significant Football League experience at Carlisle United, Doncaster Rovers, Lincoln City, Chester City, Oxford United, Macclesfield Town and Mansfield Town as well as non-League at Telford United and Weymouth.

“Both come with excellent coaching experience and qualifications.

“The committee were impressed with their passion to develop and improve players, their vision to take the club forward, encouraging any local players to join or return to the club plus their plans to integrate the Youth team into the first team set-up.

“Please visit Beech Grove soon to support Jamie and Kevin going forward.”

The pair will take charge immediately, starting on Saturday at home to Shifnal Town for a 3pm kick-off as they hope to re-ignite Rangers’ season.

Rangers lie in eighth place in the top division after a superb start, but results under Brown became inconsistent as they were on the receiving end of heavy defeats, such as a 7-1 defeat at Bewdley Town to make it a miserable Christmas.

However, they had also dished out some hammerings of their own; a 9-2 win over Bridgnorth, 6-2 over Malvern Town as well as a 5-1 win over Dudley Sports but with tight defeats too.

They were beaten by FC Oswestry Town in the TJ Vickers Cup after Christmas, leading to Brown’s departure.

West Midlands Regional League

Division One

Wem Town 4

Newport Town 1

Wem Town shot to the top of the table after a stunning thrashing of league title rivals Newport Town on Saturday.

The top-of-the-table clash at Bowensfield attracted a huge crowd as Wem set about their task of overhauling the league leaders.

Newport were blown away by Wem's starting strike duo Jim Astley, who grabbed a deserved double, and Dave Walbyoff whith the fourth added courtesy of an own goal to complete the rout.

Town have responded well to defeat at Gornal Athletic a fortnight ago when they lost 2-1 and have scored 10 goals and only conceded one in the two games after.

They are three points clear of Newport, who now only have a better goal difference of eight, and will now travel to Kington Town on Saturday (3pm), who were hammered 6-0 last time out by Wem's north Shropshire rivals St Martins.

Meanwhile, the club have confirmed the re-signing of Danny Price and also announced it will be taking a coach to Worcester Raiders on February 10 – for more details, contact Jess on 07875 483534.

Shropshire Premier League

Premier Division

Prees P

Madeley Sports P

Prees's push for the title was postponed on Saturday as their home clash with Madeley fell victim to the weather.

The Rec Men sit in second spot in the Premier Division, four points behind Oakengates Athletic FC who have played one game more.

On Saturday, they are without league action but on February 10, they travel to Clee Hill United for a 2pm start while Athletic host Newport Town Reserves.