Mark Ashton: Bristol City appoint ex-Oxford United CEO

Mark Ashton left his role as chief executive of Oxford United with the club third in League Two

Former Oxford United chief executive Mark Ashton has been appointed chief operating officer at Bristol City.

Ashton assumes control of all day-to-day football operations, having previously worked with the Championship club in a consultancy capacity.

The appointment comes after Steve Cotterill was sacked as City manager on Thursday.

"I'm excited to be back at Ashton Gate and joining at such an important time in its history," said Ashton.

Ashton, who was appointed Oxford chief executive in the summer of 2014, left his role at the Kassam Stadium last month.

Ashton well known to Robins

Prior to joining the U's, Ashton worked for City in a consultancy role when he was heavily involved in establishing the talent identification and recruitment system which was the foundation of the club's player recruitment in the first half of 2014.

He also led the project that enabled the club to secure Category 2 status for the academy while moving it to its present home at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, in Filton.

"We made sure we didn't lose contact with Mark after he had done such an excellent job for us in establishing the systems which were used to such good effect in the 2014 summer transfer window," said Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown.

"We are delighted we have managed to persuade him to join us again, this time on a permanent basis. This appointment is a further step in our long-term strategy to build the best on and off the pitch specialist expertise across our whole group."

City, meanwhile, continue to look for a new manager, with Oxford boss Michael Appleton the current bookmakers' favourite.