We are able to confirm that Lee Kelsey has been newly appointed as First Team Goalkeeper Coach and will form part of Craig Rouse’s backroom staff. Lee is a former player and current Head of Academy and Community at the club and will add to the coaching staff as UEFA B Licenced Coach and UEFA B Licensed GK Coach.
We’d like to thank Jay Mellor for his short time at the club. We caught up with Lee to discuss his new role and here is what he had to say.
Congratulations on your new role Lee, tell us how pleased you are to be involved?
Thanks Charlie, I’m delighted to be involved. The role is something that has been discussed on a few occasions over the past couple of seasons but with me still playing and logistically, the role being viable because of my other commitments, it wasn’t something that I felt I could tackle with the effort it needed. Having spoken to Rousey recently, it became clear that we could now work it out to allow me to get to a training session and games which I am absolutely delighted about.
For those that don’t know, tell us what your involvement with the club is already?
My official title is ‘Head of Academy and Community’ which essentially means I oversee the education programme we run for post 16 learners – who also take part in a full time football programme. As well as this, we run community sessions on a Monday evening for players in the local area and I am the lead coach for our young scholars who play in the National Youth Alliance and AOC College Leagues.
What will you be looking to bring to the management team?
I hope to bring a wealth of experience with me. I’ve coached within high levels of the game for the past 17 seasons and feel I am well placed from both a playing and coaching perspective to help the keepers develop. I’m very passionate about The Colls and coaching in general, and my first job is to understand how I can help Lloyd (Allinson) and any other goalkeepers develop and play to the top of their game. Furthermore, I will be another pair of eyes and ears for Rousey to bounce ideas off when needed, but my primary focus is getting the goalkeeping department to be the strongest that it can be.