Boreham Wood Football Club are delighted to announce Luke Garrard, as their newly appointed Assistant Manager. Luke is in his fifth year as Head PASE coach at the Club and in his third year as a player, having signed from AFC Wimbledon during our Ryman Premier Promotion winning season.
The appointment follows the Clubs recent trend of promoting from within and Luke takes the role vacated by Daryl McMahon. The Club believe he is a good example of a young ambitious coach becoming Assistant Manager. Luke, who will also continue playing, as Ian Allinson tries to push ‘Wood’ into the top half of the table and in a position to compete for a Play Off spot in the Conference South come next season.
Over Luke’s five year employment as Head PASE coach, his achievements have been sensational. He has guided the Club’s talented youngsters, year on year, to 5 U/18 titles, 3 National Cup Finals, ECFA National Cup Champions, Suburban League Winners, Hertfordshire County Cup Champions, as well as an additional 12 Cup Finals.
The Club Chairman Danny Hunter said “Even that does not tell the full story… Luke, with the help of Mario Noto, Billy Hunter and Ryan Kirby has also produced 7 recent England Internationals, who have represented England at Schoolboy or College level. Which has lead to some of these boys gaining full scholarships to the USA.”
Luke has also helped put some of the Club’s talented youngsters into the Pro game, with a recent example being Boreham Wood Academy product Pelly Ruddock, who joined West Ham United on a three year contract in November 2011.
Manager Ian Allinson said on his appointment “I considered all the options and applicants but in the end I couldn’t look further than Luke. He’s somebody I know, who I trust and who I believe I can work very closely with…
“I’ve watched him develop as a Coach and Youth manager within the Club’s PASE Scheme. I’ve also watched how closely he has worked with the Chairman, his PASE colleagues and seen at first hand the incredible success story, that is the PASE scheme.”
Allinson concluded “With so many of our Academy players now knocking on my First Team door. It’s a natural appointment to employ Luke, who is full time at the Club and it gives me a true link from the Academy to the First Team.”
Boreham Wood Chairman Danny Hunter summed things up “Sometimes you have to back your instinct with Club appointments. In Luke I’ve seen a person who strives to attain success and doesn’t fold when things don’t go his way. I’ve seen the correct Attitude, Discipline and Desire in his work and he’ll expect that from all our players from Academy to First Team!”
Hunter concluded “He’s helped me immensely in recent years to grow the PASE scheme and at just 26 years old, he fully deserves his promotion to become the First Team Assistant Manager. This really is a huge achievement to be part of a progressive Club and management team, when your still only in your mid-twenties. But the Club should not worried in the slightest about how young he is, just how good he is and the Club should trust me, he’ll prove to be top class!”
