Bernard McNally Manager

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Former Hednesford player who was appointed the club's  manager in January 2010 after the departure of Simon Line

Shrewsbury born and a committed Christian, McNally joined his hometown club as a junior in 1980, and went on to make over 250 appearances at Gay Meadow over nine years. His form for the Shrews during the 1985-1986 season saw him come to the attention of Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, who found out that McNally qualified for the Northern Irish courtesy of his father, who was born in Cookstown. He made his debut for his adopted country in April 1986, in a game against Morocco at Windsor Park

He impressed sufficiently to be named in the squad that traveled to the World Cup in Mexico that summer, but failed to make an appearance. His international career was limited to just four more appearances in the following two years, as he failed to convince Bingham of his place in the side

After nine seasons at Shrewsbury, he joined West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 1989 for £385,000. He was involved in the Baggies' relegation from the old Division Two in 1990-1991, but as skipper under Ossie Ardiles, helped West Brom back into the second tier at the end of the 1992-1993 season, winning in the play-offs at Wembley against Port Vale. His form for Albion also saw him earn a recall to the Northern Ireland squad for a succession of World Cup qualifiers that year

The following seasons saw the now-veteran midfielder make fewer and fewer appearances for West Brom, before he decided to quit the full-time game in 1995, and promptly signed for the Pitmen, who were riding high at the top of the Vauxhall Conference at the time. He was an influential figure towards the end of the 1995-1996 season at keys Park, as Hednesford finished in their highest ever position in senior football

He agreed a deal to continue during the 1996-1997 season, with his experience a vital component in the Pitmen's run in the F.A. Cup. In the Pitmen's epic fourth round clash at Premiership Middlesbrough, McNally came off the bench to send over an inch-perfect cross for Joe O'Connor to head home in the final minute of the game to bring the Pitmen within a goal of their illustrious opponents

After leaving Keys Park in the summer of 1997, he went coaching for a spell, before signing for Telford United on non-contract terms. However, after just one appearance at the Bucks Head, he was forced to retire with a persistent ankle injury

After taking his UEFA coaching badges, he returned to football in 2002, coaching youngsters at former club West Brom. He was appointed the Baggies' Centre of Excellence Director the following year, before leaving in June 2004 to take up a new challenge back at Telford...

The summer of 2004 had seen the old Telford United go under after financial problems had dogged the club. They reformed under the new title of AFC Telford United, and McNally was appointed the club's first manager. In the club's first season, the Bucks were promoted from UniBond Division One South via the play-offs, beating Kendal Town 2-1 in the final

He left Telford in January 2006 after a dip in form saw the Bucks struggling at the foot of the table in the UniBond Premier League. After another spell coaching at West Brom, he made the unusual move to India, where he became Head Coach of Pune FC, a recently-formed football club from the Maharastra region of India, in February 2008. The ambitious club brought in the experienced McNally to develop the club after being founded the previous year. He was in charge of Pune until May 2008, winning six of his fourteen games in charge at the club, who were promoted to the First Division of the Indian League at the end of the campaign

After returning to the UK, he received a call from Hednesford, who were looking for a caretaker manager to stand in whilst a permanent successor was found for the departed Dean Edwards. McNally steadied the ship, putting together an unbeaten run and declaring an interest in the job on a permanent basis

Missed out to Line, who sensationally quit the club three months later, allowing McNally to return to the club as permanent manager this time. Under his stewardship, the Pitmen were one of the form sides in the Zamaretto League in the final weeks of the season, winning twelve of their remaining seventeen games to finish fourth in the table after beating Cambridge City 3-0 on the last day of the season. Alas, the Pitmen fell at the play off semi-final stage, losing to Chippenham Town

McNally was quickly into his stride preparing for the 2010-2011 season, signing Dan Crane and Craig Marshall, promoting Stuart Brock to assistant manager and agreeing deals with skipper Sean Platt, Dorryll Proffitt, Aaron Gibson and Josh Craddock. He followed this up with the impressive signings of Mark Bellingham, Alfie Carter and Louis Keenan 

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