Stalybridge Celtic Football are excited to announce the appointment of James Kinsey as the clubs first team manager.

The 31-year-old joins the club after a successful five year spell in charge of Wythenshawe Town where he took the club from the Cheshire Premier Division to two third place finishes in the North West Counties Premier Division.

James departed Wythenshawe Town last week with a league win record of 61%, having managed 153 league games, scoring an impressive 384 goals.

After joining the club, James told us: “It feels really good to be here. We’ve had some brilliant experiences at Wythenshawe and we’re hoping we can use that to push this club forward. Stalybridge Celtic is a big club, there’s no denying that. We want to get the community on board and if we do that, I think we’ll all do very well together.

“We’re really excited to get to work. We’ve got a good coaching team coming in and we’ll be working very hard to get things in motion ready for the new season.

Joint majority shareholder Nigel Jones added: “James is a great guy. I’ve worked with him for the last three years and know him really well.

“James and his team will look to bring the best squad together as quickly as we can and I am excited to see where James and his team can take the club both on and off the pitch.”

James’ first taste as a manager in senior football came in May 2017 when he became the manager of East Manchester FC.

A successful 10 months led him to Wythenshawe Town where the club finished high enough to be placed into the North West Counties Division One South after the NWCFL restructure.

In his first full season in the North West Counties Division One South, they finished 5th before sitting in 3rd place during the 2019-20 season before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. His side had reached the First Division Cup Semi Final and the FA Vase 3rd Round.

The 2020-21 season was cut short due to the pandemic but with Wythenshawe Town in first place after seven wins from their opening seven games, they were promoted to the North West Counties Premier Division on points per game, after the two covid-hit seasons were merged.

The 2021-22 season saw the newly promoted side finish 3rd behind Macclesfield FC and Skelmersdale United, whilst also reaching the FA Vase Quarter Finals after entering in the First Qualifying Round. James was named North West Counties Premier Division Manager of the Year for his team’s achievements.


Last season, Wythenshawe made more progress and beat their previous points total and finished 3rd for the second successive season.

They impressively reached the Manchester Premier Cup Final, losing out 3-0 to NPL Premier Division side Radcliffe and in total, scored a huge 125 goals in all competitions, with 109 of those coming in the league campaign.

James’ back room team has already taken shape. Dan Whiteside will join him as Assistant Manager whilst Nick Farrington joins as First Team Coach. There is also the welcome addition of Reece Bogart as the clubs new Goalkeeper Coach.

Dan has been by James’ side in the dugout dating back to 2017 when the duo were at East Manchester FC. He joined James at Wythenshawe Town and now makes the move to Celtic.

A new addition to James and Dan’s team is Nick who arrives at the club after a successful two years as first team coach at Leek Town. Last season at Leek, Nick helped the club to a second placed finish in the NPL Division One West and in the 2021-22 season where Nick was also first team coach, Leek finished 4th.

Reece Bogart joins the club having gained non-league experience with both Mossley AFC and Stockport Town in previous seasons, whilst he also has his own goalkeeper coaching business.

We are delighted to confirm that we’re holding a fans forum on Monday 5th June at 7pm, where supporters can meet James and also meet Nigel Jones, one of our new joint majority shareholders. The event will start at 7pm and is being held in Bower Fold Events.


We’d love to see as many supporters there as possible to welcome our new manager and new joint majority shareholder, as we begin an exciting new era.


Welcome to Celtic, James, Dan, Nick and Reece!