Durham City have a whole new army of fans after naming former Celtic and Aston Villa star Didier Agathe as their new manager.
The Northern League Division Two club's website and social media accounts were swamped with more than 100,000 hits within hours of appointing the 44-year-old former winger on Wednesday.
Agathe won numerous trophies at Celtic alongside Martin O'Neill, making more than 120 appearances for the Scottish giants during a six-year stay at Parkhead.
A UEFA Cup finalist with the Hoops in 2003 against Jose Mourinho's Porto, he went on to play for Aston Villa in the Premier League before hanging up his boots with Reunion Island club JS Saint-Pierroise and setting up an academy there.
The support from the footballing world and in particular @CelticFC fans has been astonishing… over 100,000 views of our #didieragathe announcement.
Wow ….. we are very grateful and appreciate it ????????????
???? https://t.co/oQOpI0OrGO
— Durham City AFC Football Academy (@dcafcacademy) April 30, 2020
Agathe, who will also run City's new academy, told the club's website: “It's a great challenge and a great club. This is a really exciting project to be involved in. The club is looking to build on and off the pitch and I'm really looking forward to playing a big part in this journey.
“I'm really excited about this role. I've been coaching since my retirement, working with my Academy for over 10 years and I'm excited to transfer my knowledge and experience to build a fantastic academy for Durham City.
“I'm looking to build something here based on discipline, commitment and hard work. I want to build an exciting team that will win games and bring back the fans to Durham.
“There are good players here, we are in the process of adding some players to complement the current squad and I can't wait to get working with them.”
After spending last season languishing at the wrong end of the table, the club's chairman Gary Hutchinson is looking forward to Agathe helping them reach a new level when football returns after the coronavirus crisis.
A few of our new friends @CelticGossip @CelticFC are asking about Agathe 17 shirts to help Durham all I can say is THANKYOU to all for the interest we will be doing something as every penny helps pic.twitter.com/GY2L848vfu
— Durham City AFC (@DurhamCity_AFC) April 30, 2020
He said: “I am hoping this appointment will move the club to the next level and beyond, it's not going to happen overnight but believe it's a big step in the right direction.
“The club would like to thank director of football John Woolnough for his efforts in this appointment, it's been a great effort to get this over the line and I would like to thank everyone for their patience.”
If you're enjoying a flutter this summer as football and sport returns, make sure you enjoy the best returns with The Bet Calculator!
For more news like this and on the impact of the coronavirus on football, make sure you get your copy of The Non-League Paper!
In shops on Sundays and Mondays, The NLP is always available as a page rustling digital edition and full replica of the printed paper from midnight on Saturdays too.
So if you missed Sunday's paper, it's only a few clicks away right now. Digital readers also save cash on single issues and even more on longer deals!
Images courtesy of The Non-League Paper & @DurhamCity_AFC/Twitter
