Graham Deakin takes on football director role with Hednesford Town

Terry McMahon, who was doing the role temporarily, has moved back to his original position as secretary but will stay on the board.

Hednesford are managerless and currently second bottom of the Southern Central Premier after taking 12 points from 22 games.

As a player, Deakin played for Walsall before going on to have successful spells on the non-league circuit with Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield Town and Rushall Olympic

He then moved into coaching, becoming academy manager at Romulus and having a role as joint manager of Worcester City, he has been at Hednesford before in a coaching capacity when he was assistant manager back in 2020.

But now he goes upstairs to take his place on their football board.

A statement from the directors at the club said: “Deaks is well known in non-league football, he understands the game both on and off the pitch whilst also having a strong ability to deal with budgets.

“He has proven his ability to bring commercial opportunities to the club which is perhaps a side that people haven’t seen of him. Having him on board gives us another person with true non-league knowledge having been a player, manager, assistant manager and academy manager – which we know is something we need on board.”

Deakin’s first responsibility is to recruit a new manager to lift the team out of its current plight.

The statement continued: “We feel the appointment now has come at the right time as we look for a new manager and whilst it’s been a whirlwind 24-hours to bring Deaks on board we feel it is a very important addition.”

“We all believe we can get ourselves out of this predicament, and making the right appointment as manager is vital.”