Wade Elliott: Cheltenham promote first-team coach to head coach role

Elliott joined Cheltenham as first-team coach in 2020, working alongside Michael Duff

Cheltenham Town have promoted first-team coach Wade Elliott to head coach following the departure of Michael Duff to Barnsley.

Elliott has signed a two-year deal with the League One club.

The former midfielder joined the Robins' coaching staff in 2020 and helped steer them to a highest-ever finish of 14th in League One last year.

The 43-year-old played for Bournemouth, Burnley, Birmingham City and Bristol City during his playing career.

"It's been a very intense couple of weeks but we believe we have arrived at the correct decision for Cheltenham Town football club at this moment in time," said Cheltenham chairman David Bloxham.

"The board set out with a clear criteria for the type of coach we wanted and one of the key requirements was to try to continue the excellent progress we have experienced over the last three years.

"In the end, we believed that Wade's knowledge and understanding of the club, its staff and players made him uniquely placed to take us forward."

Elliott's playing career began in non-league football for Bashley in the Southern League. He was signed by Bournemouth in 2000 and went on to make more than 250 appearances for the club.

He joined Burnley in 2005, where he was a team-mate of Duff, and scored the winning goal in the play-off final when the Clarets secured promotion to the Premier League in 2009.

Elliott moved to Bristol City in 2014, where he was also club captain, and stayed on the coaching staff when he retired in 2015 after more than 700 games in the English Football League.

After coaching the under-21 side at Bristol City, Elliott worked with Forest Green Rovers' academy squad and was also the under-23 assistant manager at Stoke City before joining Cheltenham.

'Evolution rather than revolution' - Analysis

Paul Furley, BBC Radio Gloucestershire

Wade Elliott's promotion from first-team coach to head coach has almost been an open secret around Cheltenham Town for the last couple of days, the club feeling he is the most Duff-like appointment they could have made.

He offers continuity, having already been part of the set-up, knows the existing staff and the players who are already under contract and what style will suit them.

It's evolution, rather than revolution and synchronizes well with Micky Moore's role as director of football.

Like Duff, Elliott has also played across the levels from non-league to Premier League, which brings both humility and a breadth of contacts that will tick boxes for Cheltenham.

Although this is his first job in charge of a senior professional team, Elliott takes over with more coaching experience than his predecessor had when he returned to Whaddon Road from Burnley.

As he steps up, Elliott also now needs to find a replacement for his former coaching role to work alongside himself and long-serving assistant Russell Milton.