New role at League Two club Harrogate Town for former Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday defender Rory McArdle

McArdle's new role is part of a restructure of the club's academy coaching ranks, with Josh Law to step up to become academy manager.

Ex-Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday player McArdle will take on Law's old role.

Law takes over from departing Paul Stansfield, who has left the club to pursue other opportunities and will work closely alongside McArdle, who hung up his boots at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

McArdle said: “I’ve tried to learn as much as possible over my career from the staff I’ve been around and for this opportunity to come at a club like Harrogate is something I’m delighted about, it was something I couldn’t turn down.

"As a club it’s important we try and develop our own players and hopefully my experience can continue that, if I can keep pushing them on and continue to drive those standards up building on last year then we can keep everything moving forward.

"When I was an Academy player you did things properly, worked hard and there were no cutting corners because you couldn’t get away with it, so that’s what I’ll be expecting.

"It’s a short apprenticeship so the lads have got to make the most of it, by training as hard as they can and doing everything to the best of their ability, that’s what I want to drive into them.

“Working with Josh is one of the things I’m really looking forward to, it’s my first coaching role so I’m starting afresh and will be learning along the way, Josh is someone I can learn from, get feedback from and we can look at how things can improve collectively.”