HE‘S worked under some big names in English football management including the legendary Brian Clough, and now a former pro is stepping into the hot seat.

But ex-Nottingham Forest and Swindon Town midfielder Bobby Howe will cut his teeth in grassroots football after being appointed new manager of Northern Alliance side Hexham.

In what is a major coup for the club, somebody with Howe’s background has already boosted morale at the Wentworth Leisure Centre side even though he only met his squad for the first time on Wednesday evening.

The 41-year-old from Cramlington, who now lives in Corbridge, played for England at youth level up until he was 19, having started out as a junior at Newcastle United.

He was tempted away from his boyhood club to Nottingham Forest by Old Big ‘Ead himself in 1990, bowled over by Clough’s insistence on developing the younger members of his team.

Howe‘s breakthrough into the first team was stunted by the creation of the Premier League in 1992, though, teams splashing out millions of pounds on experienced players which pushed aside the young talent.

Also playing as a striker, Howe found his eight years at the club limited by the arrival of big stars such as Teddy Sherringham, Bryan Roy and Pierre Van Hooijdonk and he only made 14 league appearances for Forest.

Steve McMahon then took a punt on him to take him to Swindon Town for £300,000 in 1998, Howe going on to become a regular in his four seasons at the club.

His time was called in the Football League in 2002, but he continued to play non league with Havant and Waterlooville and then Farnborough Town, before brief stints in the Northern League in more recent years.

He has been out of the game for a few years but jumped at the chance to take over the reins at Hexham as they look to push on in their pursuit of promotion to the Alliance’s Premier Division.

Howe said: “I was speaking to Jamie Peel, who has just signed back on at Hexham, and I said I would love to get back in football, even if just locally.

”A couple of days later, he asked if he could pass my number onto the secretary at Hexham as they were on the lookout for a new manager.

“I was immediately impressed with the enthusiasm at the club, and it‘s just a fantastic opportunity. I don’t know what the standard is like - I don’t even know the players‘ names - but it’s a challenge I‘m really excited about.

”I started out playing under Brian Clough, and then the likes of Archie Gemmill, Stuart Pearce, Dave Bassett, Steve McMahon and Roy Evans, so I’d like to think I’ve picked up a bit over my 14 years in professional football!

“Hopefully I can take that experience I have got and pass the winning mentality on to the lads.”

Howe, along with assistants Jon Wright and Michael Mawston, inherits a side which was fighting to retain its Division One safety for large spells of last season.

An excellent run after Christmas saw them pick up points against the top five in the division, though, and they are expected to improve markedly this year.

They will be boosted significantly by the arrival of former Stocksfield midfielder Mark Robson, and the returns of Marc Nixon, Matthew MacLoughlin, Jamie Peel and Dean Barnard.

Further good news comes in the form that defender Tom Hacking rejected the chance to move up to the Northern League with West Allotment Celtic.

All eyes will be on the Hexham side this term, and Howe is confident they will be there or thereabouts come May.

He said: “It’s important to get off to a good start. I know last year they didn‘t do well until after Christmas and you can’t afford to do that.

”I‘ve been given the impression we might be there in the top half this year, and I would love us to be challenging at the top.

“I don’t know the players never mind what formation I will be playing, but we have four weeks to work hard and get sorted before the season starts.

“As a player, I always wanted to get the ball at my feet and pass it around so I will be encouraging that.

“But the weather, standard of pitches and the clientele will dictate that so we might have to play route one some games!

“I‘m just really looking forward to getting started, and all I ask from the lads is that they show commitment, hard work and take on board what we are trying to achieve as a unit.

“Most importantly, I want them to enjoy it and, what I love about this bunch, is that 85 per cent of the squad have come up through the ages at the club, and that always helps on the pitch.”

Howe comes in to fill the managerial void left when Terry Graham left the post after six years in charge.

Senior team secretary, and Hexham FC chairman, Doug Robson said: ”We’d like to thank Terry for the progress the team made, especially in the past few years, but we are looking forward to pushing on under the new management team.

“Bobby will bring organisation and the ability to change things when needed, and he will bring more professional ideas.

”It has given the lads a huge lift that somebody of his standard wants to coach them, and we‘re optimistic about the season ahead.

“An exciting season is in store and we want to be knocking on the door of promotion this time around.”

Howe will take charge of his new team for the first time on Wednesday evening when Hexham take on Prudhoe YC Seniors in their opening game of the Clayton Charity Cup, at Heddon.

He is to have them in training tomorrow prior to that match-up, and is planning his pre-season schedule before the big kick off on Saturday, August 8.

f his standard wants to coach them, and we‘re optimistic about the season ahead.“