Paul Wotton Takes Over Kidderminster Harriers for National League Return
Kidderminster Harriers appointed paul wotton as their new manager at Aggborough, putting him in charge of the club’s return to the National League next season. He succeeds Adam Murray after the club moved quickly to fill the vacancy created just days after promotion was secured.
Aggborough moves on from Murray
The appointment gives Harriers a permanent manager before they step back into the National League, and it also resets the club after Murray left for Barrow shortly after the promotion win over South Shields in the National League North Promotion Final. That sequence left Kidderminster with a clear task: replace a manager who had just delivered the club’s jump back up the pyramid.
Wotton arrives with a record built across the lower leagues. He made more than 500 appearances for Plymouth Argyle across two spells and also represented Southampton, Oxford United and Yeovil Town during his playing career. His first managerial role came with Truro City in 2019, and in 2023 he guided them to promotion from the Southern League Premier Division South through the play-offs.
Wotton’s Torquay United spell
His next job took him to Torquay United, where he led the club to a second-place finish in National League South in his first season in Devon. Torquay then lost to Boreham Wood in the play-offs, a setback that followed a strong league campaign but fell short of promotion.
Wotton left Torquay in March after a heavy defeat to Chelmsford City, ending a spell that had already shown he could get a team into the upper end of the table. Kidderminster are banking on that mix of playing mileage and recent managerial experience as they prepare for a higher level.
Holdsworth backs the hire
Harriers director of football Dean Holdsworth made the club’s view plain. “From our first conversation with myself and the chairman, Paul stood out as exactly the type of leader we wanted for this football club,” he said. “He has the experience, qualifications, standards and mentality to drive us forward, and his ambition matches our own.”
Holdsworth added: “He knows what it takes to build successful, competitive teams and we’re confident he is the right man to lead us into the next challenge, we are looking forward to an exciting new season.” The club said Wotton’s first interview as manager would follow later this week, with Barrow set to be one of the clubs waiting on the other side of the fixture list next season.
