Graham Westley re-appointed as Stevenage manager

League One side Stevenage have appointed Graham Westley for a third spell as manager.

Westley, 45, ended a second, three-year stint at Boro in January 2012 to take charge of Preston North End.

He was dismissed by North End in February after and has returned to the club he previously led to back-to-back promotions.

Westley replaces Gary Smith, who was sacked on 20 March after a run of 14 losses in 18 games.

"Graham was keen to come back to Stevenage and, although I met some strong candidates, without doubt I think he's the best man for the job right now," said Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace.

"The club enjoyed a great deal of success before he left last year and we moved forwards significantly in his time here on several levels.

"Since he left we've continued that progress in people and infrastructure off the pitch. So we spent a lot of time this past week talking about things we feel we could do better this time round and we've put many of those into our contractual arrangement."

Stevenage are 15th in League One on 50 points, 10 clear of the relegation zone.