Grant Joshua Appointed as New First Team Boss

Rugby Town Football Club is pleased confirm the appointment of Grant Joshua as our new first team manager.

The 37-year-old will take charge at Butlin Road following his final game in charge of Coleshill Town – their Walsall Senior Cup Final against Darlaston Townon Tuesday 13 May – before officially joining up with us ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Joshua is excited to get started and had this to say: "It’s a privilege for me to manage this club.

"Regardless of recent history, this is a monster of a club and one I will get back to where it should be, with the help of the supporters who we will need every week, home and away.

"Sometimes you have to deviate from your planned path when an offer comes from a club as big as this.

"It wasn't a possibility a week ago, but it’s not one I can turn down with the size of the club and the project that’s been presented to me.

"The owners and I had an hour on the phone last week and then a three-hour meeting in person, and sometimes you get a homely feel of a place – and that’s what I had when I left."

Joshua will be joined by his previous backroom staff of Chris Rabone and Ross Harris.

Rugby Town Director Neil Melvin said of the appointment: "Grant is already a proven manager at a young age, having shown his quality and potential with impressive spells at both Lye Town and Coleshill Town.

"He shares our passion and ambition to get the club back to the level that befits our fanbase, our facilities, and our expectations."

Joshua took over Lye in February 2020 with the club loitering near the bottom of the Midland Football League Premier Division but turned the Flyers into a force at the other end of the table, earning promotion to the NPL Midlands in April 2023 before narrowly missing out on the play-offs in the club's first season at Step Four.

He moved onto Coleshill Town at the start of last season and finished with a 9th place finish.