Neil Baker Leek Bound

Former assistant manager and current chief scout Neil Baker is set to reduce his time at the club this summer by taking up a role at his former club Leek Town.

Dario’s right hand man was elected to the Leek Board of Directors at the club’s recent Annual General Meeting and it will see him play a part in the club’s management at pitch level, helping current manager, former Alex captain Neil Cox turn things around after a poor season.

The Crewe Chronicle is reporting that Bakes could still remain in charge of the Alex’s scouting system on a part-time basis alongside his new role at Leek.

Leek chairman Andy Wain backed that up, saying Baker is not able to join up with Leek full time. He told The Sentinel:

‘We are not in a position to offer Neil a full-time wage, so his bread and butter is with Crewe.

‘Leek is a club Neil loves and he will continue to help out in his spare time. His appointment will have no affect on the manager.’

Bakes is certainly no stranger to the Harrison Park outfit. He led them to their most successful period over his 8 years as manager between 1986-1994 leading them to promotion to the Northern Premier League as well as a FA Trophy final at Wembley in 1990.

Baker joined the Alex in 1994 as Dario’s assistant and spent 15 years in the role, also becoming Steve Holland’s assistant manager and, for a short period, Gudjon Thordarson’s.

His role at the club has been slowly reduced following the appointment of Steve Davis in the summer of 2009 and whilst he makes the occasional return to the dug out on match day he has spent the last couple of years overseeing the club’s search for new players.