NEW Gornal Athletic boss Brian Knight admits he has big boots to fill.

The 47-year-old beat off more than a dozen candidates to succeed Ian Rowe at the Garden Walk Stadium.

It is his first managerial appointment at senior level having spent the last seven years with Redditch United having coached through from under 16s to be assisting the first team manager, and has experience of the Midland Alliance with Stratford Town.

A left-sided midfielder during his playing days, Knight brings Gary Williams with him from Redditch as his number two and Tim Rudd to assist on the coaching side using experience gained at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Kidderminster Harriers.

He said: “First of all I’ll be looking to build on the success of Ian Rowe.”

Under Rowe who stood down at the end of last season, Gornal won the West Midland Regional title two years ago, reached the last eight of the FA Vase last season and never finished out of the top three in his three-year tenue.

“He will be a tough act to follow but I’m looking forward to meeting the players in the next couple of weeks.

“I was more than happy when I got the news I’d got the job and a little surprised,” he said.

“It’s my first gaffers’ job but you have to start somewhere to get the experience and for me it’s been a progression through from youth level. When the Gornal job came up I thought it was a great place to start. “And, as Redditch have just given their job to a 28-year-old I’m practically a veteran,” he joked.”

He also refused to set targets for next season but did say; “Obviously top-half is our ambition rather than bottom and a cup run would be a bonus, but until we’ve had a couple of sessions with the players it’s impossible to say. “The board have put no expectations on me, they are not expecting us to run away with the league next year.”

Gornal chief executive Kevin Williams said: “Brian comes to the club with an excellent pedigree after a number of years at Redditch United where he was responsible for the development of the youth team and more recently assisting the first team manager.

Brian’s vision for the future of Gornal Athletic matched exactly with that of the Gornal committee. We’re delighted with this appointment and look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

  •  Tividale have also started the search for a new manager after Dean Whitehouse officially stepped down.

Stuart Scriven had been in temporary charge since March after Whitehouse, who steered the club to the West Midlands Regional title in 2010-11, took a back seat for personal reasons.

Any applicants will require experience of managing at level nine of the football pyramid (Step 5 at non-league) as a minimum and ideally hold at least an FA Level 2 coaching badge.

Go to Tivi’s website at pitchero.com/clubs/tividale for more details.