Ellerslie will go into their 2024 season with familiar faces in the coaches’ dugout for their women’s and men’s first teams.
Ryan Shiffman (38) has been re-appointed as head coach of Ellerslie’s women’s team and will start his seventh season in the role.
Ben Fletcher (34) will be head coach of the Ponies’ men’s first team for his third campaign since joining the club from Franklin United.
Main photo: Ryan Shiffman (left) and Ben Fletcher … both will return in 2024.
Announcing Shiffman’s re-appointment, the club said: “He has led Ellerslie’s transition from a promising women’s and girls club to an established Premier League club.”
Shiffman holds an OFC/NZF B Licence and is working towards his A Licence.
His squad came fourth in last season’s Lotto NRFL Women’s Premier League, qualifying for the Women’s National League for the first time since the club played in the 1994 Bluebird Superclub competition.
Fletcher is looking to build on his two previous seasons where Ellerslie finished midtable in the Lotto NRFL Men’s Championship after several years battling relegation.
“Under his leadership, the team has been revitalised, and with a large portion of homegrown players in the team testament to his focus on youth and homegrown players,” the club said.
Fletcher has an OFC/NZF B Licence and has been accepted into an OFC A Licence course.
Support staff for both teams will be announced later.
How they finished last season
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