Dave Clark’s wealth of experience nurturing talented youngsters saw him shoot straight to the top of Workington Town’s wanted list.

Cumbrian Clark was named as Town’s new head coach yesterday and they see him as the man to help rebuild the side.

His experience in working with the stars of tomorrow, both in the Cumbria Regional Academy, Wigan Warriors’ youth set up and England Academy, set him apart from the rest of the applicants.

Town chairman Garry Mounsey said: “We had a lot of applicants from Cumbria, nationally and even internationally but we were very struck by Dave’s cv.

“As a board we want to put things in place for the future so the fact that he has a performance background is a huge plus for us.

“Being relegated was tough for us all but it has also given us chance to take stock. We are trying to build a team for the long term and on good, solid foundations.

“The other option would have been to go and try and manage and match players’ demands across the game in general.

“But we have to cut our cloth accordingly. And we want to steady the ship for future seasons and not just for 2017.”

Clark is now working closely with director of rugby Les Ashe to identify targets to build a squad capable of competing in League 1 next season.

Town have also lost forwards Marc Shackley to Haven and Jarrad Stack to Barrow this week.

Mounsey wished the duo well for the future but says Clark is well placed to begin building a side for the future.

“Sometimes at the end of a season a fresh start for a club and players can be the best thing,” he admitted.

“We wish them well and look forward to some good derbies in the new season.

“Dave’s coaching and playing experience means he is well respected and with him being involved in the national development set-up he is well connected.

“He has spent a long time watching and nurturing some of the country’s top young talent and that development experience is what really interested us.

“He has been involved not only at club level but also national level and I know he has a little black book of promising players which hopefully we can get the benefit of.”