Calum in as new coach McIntyre ‘impressed immensely’
RUNCORN Linnets have appointed Calum McIntyre as club manager. At 26 years old, Calum becomes one of the youngest managers in the football pyramid but he brings with him extensive knowledge of senior non-league football and youth football in the region.
For the last four years he has been at Chester FC, serving various management teams as first team coach.
In a separate role as Academy head coach, he has overseen the development of young players to the Chester first team and beyond.
Calum is an FA Level 2 and UEFA B licensed coach, who now looks forward to transferring his knowledge, talent and passion into management
He has had two spells as Chester’s first team coach, initially from 2016-18 in a full-time training model at National League level, working alongside successive managers Jon McCarthy and Marcus Bignot.
In April 2018, Calum was named first team caretaker manager, thereby becoming the youngest manager in the history of the professional game.
Calum was promoted back to the first team coach’s role for 2019-20, this time under ex-Salford managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley as the club moved to a “hybrid” training schedule, combining evening and daytime sessions.
Calum planned and led training in conjunction with the club’s co-managers and sports science staff.
Before the cancellation of fixtures, Chester were set for a play-off position in National
League North.
As Academy head coach, Calum in 2018 managed the Chester FC Youth side, which lifted the National League’s Under 19 Cup.
Between 2016-2018, he recruited, coached and progressed three players - through to the Chester FC first team. One of the players was subsequently transferred to Leicester City for a six-figure fee with the others joining Salford City and Notts County for four and five figure sums, respectively.
In all, 13 of Calum’s proteges have made the first team in League matches, nine of these going on to make more than 15 senior appearances and two more than 50.
Calum said on joining Runcorn Linnets:
“I am delighted to be joining Runcorn Linnets. This was a terrific opportunity to move into senior management.
“This is a terrific football club and one that I am a committed to playing my part in delivering success to.
“I am pleased to be inheriting such a talented group and look forward to speaking to existing players over the coming days.
“Over the coming weeks, I look forward to getting to know the supporters and volunteers at the club and working together ahead of the return to football when it is safe to do so.”
Chairman Mike Bignall said of Calum’s appointment: “The recruitment process was very thorough. In total, we had 31 candidates for the position, a phenomenal response, the overall calibre being extremely high.
“Calum isn’t someone who had been on our radar but his application and CV leapt off the page and made him a candidate we felt we had to speak to, and when interviewed, Calum impressed the panel immensely”.