Canterbury City have announced the appointment of their new manager.

Ex-Cray Wanderers and Tunbridge Wells boss Keith Bird joins City, having most recently been chairman of Southern Counties East (SCEFL) Premier Division rivals Holmesdale - a role he had held since last April.

He will be assisted by Sam Wilson and Dan Lawrence who had been caretaker joint-managers following the resignation of Chris Woollcott last month.

In a club statement, Canterbury said: "We felt that it was vitally important, after the last couple of seasons, to look to recruit somebody with experience - and Keith has that in abundance.

"As a UEFA B coach, Keith will bring a range of experience and expertise in helping Canterbury City FC to maintain our SCEFL Premiership Step 5 status.

"He matches our ambitions of pushing much higher when we have the structure and facilities in place.

"Having been part of the staff at Bromley, along with being first-team manager at Tunbridge Wells and Cray Wanderers, we felt that Keith will provide great ability and sustainability in helping shape the future of CCFC and driving us forward.

"Most recently, Keith has been chairman of Holmesdale FC where he has been helping the club in their first season back at Step 5, and we are grateful to Holmesdale for allowing Keith to step down from that role in order to accept this position at Canterbury City."

He joins after the club, sitting 15th in the table, ended an 11-match winless run with a 2-1 home victory over Rusthall on Saturday, with Lawrence and Wilson having been in charge for that game.

"They have, albeit in a short time, created a feel-good factor around the place and had positive results," the statement, which was published on Tuesday, added of the contribution from Lawrence and Wilson.

"This is an exciting appointment, we are certain this is a massive coup for the club as a whole.

"We, obviously, would like to thank Dan and Sam for a fantastic effort in helping build a team spirit and the results they achieved in a small space of time. This was one of the deciding factors in asking for them to carry on helping with the good start they had made."

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The news comes after City last week secured their future with funding for around the next three years but also announced that they are on the look-out for a new ground once again as they will be leaving Faversham's Salters Lane at the end of this season.

They visit bottom side Lordswood this Saturday when Bird will be in the dugout.