Matt Bloomfield: Wycombe Wanderers appoint Colchester United boss as head coach

Matt Bloomfield (left) replaces Gareth Ainsworth at Wycombe Wanderers, having played under him and been part of his coaching team

Wycombe Wanderers have appointed Matt Bloomfield as their new head coach to succeed Gareth Ainsworth.

The club said on Tuesday, following Ainsworth's departure to QPR, that the 39-year-old Colchester United boss had "agreed in principle" to take the job.

That has now been confirmed, on an undisclosed-length contract.

Bloomfield brings with him Richard Thomas as his assistant manager, while Lee Harrison returns for a third spell as Wycombe's head of goalkeeping.

Former Leyton Orient, Notts County and Watford coach Thomas and ex-Barnet keeper Harrison were also part of Bloomfield's backroom staff at Colchester,

"As you do in football, you hear on the grapevine that QPR are interested in the gaffer [Ainsworth] and then Rob's number [Wycombe owner Rob Couhig] number popped up on my phone - it was one of those moments that you hope might mean something," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"He approached Colchester, did everything the right way - he had permission to speak to me and everything moved so quickly. We came to an agreement very quickly, both parties wanted it to happen.

"It felt so right to come back. It's a really exciting time for the football club and a really exciting prospect for me. I feel like I'm ready for the job."

He added: "I'm so grateful to Colchester for the opportunity they gave me. I loved my time there but the lure of coming back here to manage this club was always going to be too big to turn down."

Matt Bloomfield's football CV

Bloomfield played 558 games for Wycombe - during which he also became a BBC Sport online columnist - before retiring in February 2022 on medical advice after a fifth concussion in four years.

He took his first role in management when he was appointed by Colchester last September.

He won nine of his 27 games in charge of the U's, who are 19th in League Two.

He joins a Wycombe side who sit seventh in League One.

Bloomfield's first game in charge will be at fellow play-off hopefuls Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

As League One's newest gaffer, he will be pitting his wits against the longest-serving boss in League One, Steve Cotterill, who started his managerial career in English football in 1997.