Maamria Appointed Southport Boss

Maamria, an ex-Football Conference manager of the year, accepted the Port role on Wednesday night with chairman Charlie Clapham saying: “I have known Dino a long time. Our supporters know Dino's strengths and the excellent career he has had as player, coach, assistant-manager and manager.

“Dino is a very ambitious young manager, with a wealth of experience, who has real belief, he can and will take the club forward. Dino is determined, dedicated and driven. With those credentials he has a two-and-a-half-year contract, so we have put the foundations together to push us up the National League and compete for League Two status. That's Dino's remit which he has set himself and that's what we all want.”

Maamria was introduced to his squad at the Merseyrail Community Stadium on Thursday morning by Clapham before taking his first training session.

He will take charge of the squad for Saturday's away fixture at Welling United.

Maamria is expected to be a very popular Port choice having played for Southport back in the 2000/01 season, making his debut on 2nd September 2000 under Mark Wright a season when Southport finished fourth in the Football Conference behind champions Rushden & Diamonds, Yeovil and Dagenham and Redbridge.

In all he had three playing spells with the Sandgrounders with his last appearance in April 2007.

As a coach and assistant-manager, Maamria has had incredible success working under Graham Westley at Stevenage and Preston North End.

At Stevenage, he played a major part in winning the FA Trophy, the Conference championship and winning promotion to League One via the Promotion Final.

Incredibly in Stevenage's first season in League One they reached the play-off semi-finals. While as a manager in his own right in 2007/08, Maamria secured Northwich Victoria's Conference safety, despite a points` deduction earning him the Football Conference manager of the season.

With a UEFA Pro Licence coaching qualification - the highest coaching award in the land - being a Tunisian international, having played in Europe, Africa and USA, and with ten years coaching at Burnley Academy, Maamria has all the experience to create not only a fully functioning first-team squad which has to be his immediate priority but also in the longer-term overseeing a structure to take the club forward.

Maamria said: “I am very grateful to the chairman on giving me the opportunity to manage this great club. Obviously the short-term is to get to know the players and to prepare to win matches starting on Saturday. I am aiming to build the club in the longer-term and to take it to a better place. I want everyone to enjoy it and let’s set off on an exciting journey, this club has tremendous potential. It is great to be back.”

Ken Hilton