BRADFORD City Women have announced former Brighouse Town and Liversedge boss Mark Brier as their new first-team manager.

Brier arrives at the club with plenty of coaching experience, including in the women’s game where he guided Halifax Town Ladies to two promotions in his first managerial role.

He was most recently at Brighouse, winning promotion to the Northern Counties East Premier League, and is hoping to deliver stability to the Bantams after a rocky campaign last term.

“I was approached by the club last season but at that time, things weren’t quite right for me and I decided to hold for a while, but we kept in touch,” Brier said.

“I’m also an FA Coach mentor and several of the current under-18s were in my West Riding County FA under-16s squad, while I’ve watched footage of the first team so I know there’s quality around the club.”

He continued: “The main thing is that it’s a fresh start as the club has struggled in their recent past with consistency on and off the field.

“I’ve been challenged with bringing a new approach to the way the club will be operated on the football front.

“It’s something I can get my teeth into, along with my coaching team.”

That coaching team includes Paul Scott and Qasim Akhtar, both promoted from roles with the junior teams. Scott has been at the club since the establishment of the junior set-up five years ago, while Akhtar arrived two seasons ago.

They will hope to add knowledge of the club to Brier’s experience as a first team manager, as he looks to improve on the eighth-placed finish City achieved in the FA Women’s Premier League Northern Division last season.