Fleetwood Town are delighted to announce the appointment of Lee Johnson as the club’s new first-team Manager.
Johnson heads to the Fylde Coast with vast experience as a manager not only in League One but the EFL as a whole with more than 500 games under his belt in the dugout.
Starting his coaching career at Oldham Athletic, he became the youngest to ever manage in the EFL at just 31 and led them to their best finish in five years, whilst introducing his high-quality standard style of play.
Further roles at Barnsley and Bristol City would follow this, with his turning the latter into play-off contenders after steering them away from the relegation zone when he first arrived.
Town fans will be familiar with Johnson from his time at Sunderland, with multiple clashes against his side, and whilst there, he helped the Black Cats lift their first piece of silverware in 14 years by winning the EFL Trophy in the 2020/21 season – as well as reaching the League One play-off final.
After this, he moved above the border to manage at Hibernian and managed a fifth-place finish in the Scottish Premiership in his maiden season and, after this, still boasts a near 40 per-cent win ratio across his 500 games as a manager over the last decade.
Now, the 42-year-old has made his way to Fleetwood and has a week with his side to get prepared for Town’s next outing which is against Oxford United at Highbury on Saturday 16 September.
On the news, CEO Steve Curwood said: “We are delighted to attract someone with the calibre and record of Lee Johnson to Fleetwood Town – we see this move as a real statement of intent at the club.
“During the process, we made it clear we were looking for an experienced manager who can help take what we feel is a very good squad up the table, and help to develop the club as a whole.
“We were hugely impressed by the number of impressive candidates and after a thorough interview process, Lee was the stand-out candidate.
“We’d like to welcome him to Highbury Stadium and look forward to working with him in the future.”
Further announcements about Lee’s backroom staff will be made in due course.
Welcome to the club, Lee!