James Townsend and Joe Oxley
Last night’s final game of the season saw an emotional farewell to the OD’s long-serving manager Steve Heath and the club immediately announced the appointment of Joe Oxley and James Townsend as their new management team.
An announcement from the club read: “We are thrilled to announce that Joe Oxley and James Townsend will be taking over as joint managers.
“Both managers are qualified UEFA A coaches with extensive footballing backgrounds.
“We are excited to continue working with Joe and James to develop the club.”
Oxley is a UEFA A licensed football coach, and football production consultant, with over twelve years coaching experience;, including five years within the youth development phase of the academy at Luton Town leading the under-14, 15, and under-16 age groups.
He has helped to produce several players who have represented their country at youth level, moved to Premier League clubs and made their professional debuts.
Oxley has worked on global football projects alongside a number of international players including James Rodriguez, Miralem Panic and Gareth Bale.
Working throughout 2017/18 with Adidas, UEFA Champions League and a host of Europe’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid and Juventus.
Alongside this, eight years of experience developing and co-coordinating award-winning educational programming with the Winch, and The Princes Trust have afforded Oxley vast leadership experience, and the opportunity to work closely with groups of young people daily.
He also has non-League experience as a player with the likes of Aylesbury United, Aston Clinton, Aylesbury Vale Dynamos and Tring Corinthians.
Townsend has over fifteen years coaching experience.
During this time, he has worked with the academy squads at Brentford, Luton Town and West Ham United, coaching all age ranges from under-8s to under-18s.
He has first-hand experience of working with players at the critical stage of their development, ensuring that players understand the demands of professional football, from not only the technical and tactical side of the game, but also the physical and psychological side also.
The new managerial team said: “We are delighted to be given this opportunity of becoming joint managers and are extremely excited to build on the great work carried out by chairman Simon Bullard and the outgoing manager Steve Heath, his staff and the players at the club for the last few years.
“we have a clear vision for the team, the type of players we would like to recruit and retain, and the style of football we would like to play to make AFC Dunstable both competitive ad exciting to watch. With lots of hard work, we are confident we can put in place a culture and an identity which will push the club forward.
“We look forward to meeting all the staff and the players throughout the club and engaging with supporters, sponsors and the local community”.
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