Ardley Arrives As Woking Make A Swift Appointment

The 52-year-old, who took Notts County and Solihull Moors to within a match of the EFL, replaces Michael Doyle at the Laithwaite’s.

They parted company with the Irishman following Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Gateshead.

Woking have won just one match since early September, a narrow home victory over fellow strugglers Boston United, and are now just a point above the relegation places.

Ardley, who guided AFC Wimbledon to League One in 2016 in his first job in management, begins his tenure with a home game against Altrincham on Saturday.

“We had a list of criteria we would want in various situations, both short term and long term, if a change had to be made,” new Director of Football Jody Brown told the Surrey club’s website.

“We short-listed those who met the criteria, and we are pleased that we were able to act quickly and efficiently to get this done and appoint Neal as our new manager. Having coached and developed players at academy level, Neal moved into senior management where he has proved to be able to succeed in multiple scenarios.

“The diversity of his journey illustrates his flexibility, his promotions and playoff achievements tell us that he can take us to where we hope to be one day, and his battles with relegation and team rebuilding processes are all invaluable experiences that he’ll have learned from.

“Neal has the values we want in our head coach. He brings a pragmatism to improve our current position, but also the principles and coaching philosophy to be able to help us evolve into what we want to be in the future.”