Keiren Westwood has joined non-league Cheadle Town F.C., but it’s not what you might first think.
The Irish international shot-stopper may have fallen down the pecking order in former boss Martin O’Neill and then current boss Mick McCarthy’s eyes, but he’s made 10 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship this season.
He’s actually joined Cheadle Town’s executive board, as the ambitious club set their sights on promotion through the English leagues, emulating other success stories such as Salford City F.C. and Fleetwood Town in recent years.
Republic of Ireland International Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood Joins Cheadle Town https://t.co/ftkG7Jcyt0
— Cheadle Town FC (@CheadleTownFC) October 16, 2019
Speaking to SportsJOE.ie, Cheadle’s club secretary Stuart Crawford outlined the reasoning behind the appointment of Westwood;
“We want to tap into his knowledge as a footballer, how he has seen from a professional angle how teams are run throughout the divisions. Our chairman is very ambitious, he’s made no secret of that, he wants to take us from Step 6 of the English League (really 8 rungs on the ladder) right up to the Premiership. He’s seen how Fleetwood Town, teams like that, have moved up through the rungs… We were only playing Fleetwood Town 10 years ago. We’ve got a good sort of… I suppose, where we are based, with the right investment, we can use Keiren to help us get there.”
Westwood, who grew up in nearby Wythenshawe, is a close personal friend of the chairman Craig Brennan since they were kids, and Crawford went on to explain how Westwood has already been involved with the club on a more informal level;
“So Keiren is coming on as an advisor onto the board of directors. That board has a direct say on matters on the pitch, and he can really add to that. He’s already around quite a lot, he comes down to games often and a couple of weeks back he was behind the bar serving pints at a local game!”
At least they know he’s a safe pair of hands; on the pitch, off it and behind the club bar.
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