Lane returns at hometown club

Once one of the youngest head coaches in European football when he took charge of Maltese side Naxxar Lions and a UEFA A licensed coach since kicking off his managerial career at Leighton Town back in 1998, Lane, pictured, was named over the weekend as the new manager of his local club nearly six months after leaving the Ryman League's Blues.

Lane, whose own playing career at clubs including Yeovil Town, Woking, Bath City, Hayes and Aylesbury United was curtailed by injury, took his first steps into management at Berkhamsted Town in 2003 before enjoying a successful spell as Windsor & Eton boss and three years as first team coach to Johnson Hippolyte at Maidenhead United in National League South.

The new Woods manager, who left the Ryman Premier's Blues in January after two years at the Maurice Rebak Stadium, is looking forward to turning around the fortunes of the Southern League Division One Central outfit after their from bottom finish in April under former player-manager Mark Burgess.

Lane said: “I am delighted to be joining my local club Northwood and take on the challenge of rebuilding the club’s fortunes on the pitch. This is one of the few clubs that I would have dropped into this league for and the pull of managing a club in my own community, working with the excellent people here, was too much to resist."

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