We are delighted to announce that County manager Jim Gannon has been rewarded for an outstanding season by being named the Vanarama National League North Manager of the Year for 2018/19.
Jim picked up the prestigious award after dramatically guiding County to a first League Title in 52 years, clinching promotion on the final day of the season with that famous 3-0 victory at Nuneaton.
Now in his third spell in charge of the Hatters, it was a memorable season for the County legend, who guided us to 18 wins in our final 24 league games of the season, losing just three league games since the turn of the year.
Despite becoming the first man to guide County to promotion on more than one occasion, Jim was quick to pay tribute to his coaching staff and players, in helping him pick up the award:
“This is a great individual award and I am very proud to accept it. However, I feel a strong sense of humility, as this is a shared reward for the hard work of all my staff. It is a recognition of the part we have all played, especially the players in such a great season”.
Jim also payed homage to the support and backing received from the club’s board throughout the last three years of his tenure:
“I would also like to give credit to our Chairman and his fellow directors for having belief in me and keeping faith with my vision and principles. I have known some very difficult times at this club, so I recognise when I have respect and support from above.
“This is so important in providing a foundation of trust for the employees to work harder and think further ahead in the search for progress and success for their Club.
“We have a vision of what we want to achieve, and a sense of reality in regards to the framework of how this will be accomplished. I have seen the failings of both over-spending and under-investment at this club and lost my job as a consequence on both occasions.
“In this third time around as manager, what we have achieved this season has been built on three years of solid development of the business. With a stability of ownership, investment support and sensible stretching of the budgets, we have been able to underpin the sustainable growth and professionalising of the football side of the Club.
“The rewards of that investment are clearly being seen now as we receive an unprecedented number of trophies and awards this season for all our work at the Club. The step-up next season is big, and we have another mountain to climb to get to the Football League, but I am looking forward to the challenge and work involved in that climb.”
