Southern League Premier Division South club Hartley Wintney have fielded a reserve team playing in the Suburban League for many seasons, but now a change of management and a change of approach will see the Row’s second team structured as an under-23 development side.
The development team will be steered by experienced non-League manager and coach, Andy Hunt, alongside former Oxford United and Boston United professional Ross Weatherstone.
As part of the agreement between themselves and the club, Hunt and Weatherstone will also be running their academy from the recently improved facilities at Hartley Wintney.
Hunt (pictured on the left) is a well-respected coach in local and non-League football.
He is a UEFA B Licence coach and has worked full-time in football for the last ten years, where he has been involved in Football Education programmes with Premier League Southampton and other domestic academy Programmes.
Hunt also served as first-team manager at Godalming Town and Fleet Town at Step 4 level, having started his managerial career at Fleet Spurs.
In recent years Weatherstone has managed and coached at Bracknell Town, Binfield and Woodcote FC.
During his time at Binfield, he managed the team that went on to win the Suburban League Cup and has a proven record of coaching and developing young players.
In his playing days, Weatherstone was a professional with Oxford United, Boston United, Nuneaton Borough, Farnborough Town and Stevenage Borough, playing over 100 games in the Championship, Leagues One and Two, and in the National League, helping to win the National League championship with Boston United in 2002.
Speaking of their appointments, Hunt told the club`s press officer Kevin O`Byrne: “Having previously played at Hartley Wintney and seen the progress of the club over the last few years, I’m delighted to return and begin to look at how we can all work together to provide a fantastic player pathway from the youth section all the way to the first team”.
Kevin O'Byrne
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