League Two side, Colchester United, have confirmed the appointment of former Stoke City winger Matthew Etherington on a permanent basis.
Etherington had been placed in interim charge of the club, following the sacking of Ben Garner in mid-October, but that he has now officially been made the Head Coach, with the length of his contract yet to be disclosed by the club.
In interim charge, Etherington has picked up ten points from a possible 12 in the fourth-tier with away wins against Grimsby Town and Accrington Stanley, as well as a victory at home to Swindon Town before being held to a 1-1 draw by Sutton United. They exited the FA Cup at the first round stage to League One club Shrewsbury Town after initially taking the lead in that match.
Prior to this run of form, The U’s were sitting in the bottom two and the relegation places but have now lifted themselves up to 16th in the table.
Etherington, who made 494 appearances as a professional footballer for the likes of Peterborough United, Tottenham Hotspur, Bradford City, West Ham United and Stoke City, began his coaching career with his first professional team, Peterborough.
He was Posh’s caretaker coach on two occasions between 2021 and 2022 before being appointed as manager of Crawley Town in 2022, under the controversial ownership of WAGMI United, and he was eventually sacked as Crawley churned through three managers in that five-month spell.
His first game in charge as the permanent Colchester boss is a tough one as they face league leaders Stockport County at Edgeley Park on Saturday afternoon. They are currently seven points off the top seven and the playoff places, 12 behind the top three and 18 off their upcoming opponents at the weekend.
After a busy January transfer window, Colchester were expecting to challenge for the aforementioned top seven this season and that will be the task of Etherington this season.
