CORWEN Football Club’s new first team manager says ‘community engagement’ from the club will be ‘more important than ever’ post-Covid-19.

Club officials say they are ‘delighted’ to have appointed Guy Handscombe to the role as of April 13, following an intensive selection process.

The 36-year-old, who has lived in Bala for the past decade or so, is an A Licence coach.

Shaun Colley, who is himself currently completing the A Licence coaching qualification, will join the club as Handscombe’s assistant manager.

In a statement, the club said it was ‘delighted’ to have the pair on board as it ‘enters a very exciting phase’ in its long and illustrious history.

Handscombe first began coaching when he was just 16 years old and says that it’s something ‘he has always wanted to go and do full time’.

He initially worked with Cefn Druids under Carl Darlington, who is now a first team coach at Wrexham AFC.

The pair also work together for the FAW Trust these days, with Handscombe being a Level 2 Coach Education Assistant and Darlington is Head of Education.

Handscombe began working in local schools as a self-employed coach before going on to do his B Licence.

He then completed his A licence around 10 years ago and was on the same course as Colin Caton, who has been Bala Town manager for the last 18 years.

From there, Handscombe became involved with Bala for a spell.

He said: “I was leading the academy there to begin with before going on to help out with the first team.

“I learn a lot from Colin during my team there and also helped out with the Reserves side.”

A brief spell at Llanrwst United followed before Handscombe moved on to Porthmadog FC for four seasons - a club he says he enjoyed ‘lots of good memories and experiences’ with.

He then became assistant to Chris Hardy at Ruthin Town in the JD Cymru North (tier two) and, it was at that point, he realised he really wanted to ‘take the next step’ and become a first team manager.

Whilst there, Handscombe had the opportunity of managing the JD Cymru North side that was scheduled to take on the JD Cymru South side in the UEFA Regions Cup - but unfortunately that match never went ahead due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, he made switch to another tier two club - Llandudno - where he worked as an assistant to Sean Eardley and helped with the re-structuring of the club’s academy.

On April 13, it was announced that he would be taking over as first team manager at Corwen FC.

Last season, the club was relegated from the JD Cymru North and, as a result, will play in the newly-formed Ardal North East League (tier three).

Handscombe says his main targets are to get the club back to where it belongs in a sustainable way and ensure they don't become a 'yo-yo' club - ie a club that goes up and down between leagues each season.

He said: "I had always had Corwen in the back of my mind. I spoke to my family, as they knew I wanted to take a management role but for me it had to be in the right environment with the right people so it would work for my family, as well as myself.

"The aim is to push Corwen up to show my capabilities as a manager, I've got aspirations of completing the UEFA Pro Licence someday.

"I had a conversation with Ian Evans (Corwen FC director) and the board and they really sold the club to me, it's absolutely fantastic.

"I outlined my ideas and proposals to them, which they seemed really excited about. I wanted to make sure I could get right people in behind the scenes as well and so I am really pleased that Shaun has accepted role the as assistant.

"The natural progression is to get back to tier two - but in sustainable way. There won’t be big budgets going around, we’re going to be proactive with what we have got. The long term project is to not become a yo-yo club.

"I am 100% looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to build a project like this really excites me,

"It’s going to be tough, there’s going to be good and bad days, but that's football. Ive got 20 years of coaching experience and have been an assistant in over 300 games across different leagues

"I’ve got the knowledge and belief in myself to help take the club to where the board wants it to be.

" It's important that we get community engagement too, it's not just about football. It's even more important now post-Covid to support the community. That's very important to me being a local man."