Lewis has long been associated with the club, having played in Darlaston colours from 5 years old, progressing through the youth ranks into the first team.

Even when not playing, he has always been an avid fan, supporting Darlo home and away.

Lewis was appointed manager of FC Darlaston at the beginning of the 2018/19 season guiding the club to promotion from the West Midlands (Regional) League Division Two into Division One at the end of their second season since forming.

He has also been successful in Sunday football, leading his beloved Frying Pan as manager from relegation favourites to Wolverhampton Sunday League champions in a season.

He returned to Darlaston as first team coach following his resignation at FC Darlaston, assisting manager Andy Parkes in the return of the club to the WMRL Premier Division.

Lewis told https://www.darlastontown1874fc.com: “I am absolutely delighted to be appointed manager of Darlaston Town 1874. I would like to thank the Board of Directors, main committee and football committee for giving me the opportunity to manage the club that means everything to me. I am so proud and humbled to not only represent the club, but also the town, where I have lived my whole life.

“I would like to thank Andy Parkes for giving me the chance to come back here 12 months ago. Under Andy, I learned so much about the game, not only on the field but off it too, including the countless hours needed to plan and best prepare the team for the next game. Detail and preparation is everything and I cannot thank him enough.

“It's going to be a very busy time, we only have just under three weeks until we play our first competitive game of the season against Heather St Johns in the FA Vase. One of my first priorities is to recruit and appoint my assistant manager and backroom staff and I hope to be able to announce them in the next couple of days.”

Chairman Neil Chambers said: "We are delighted to appoint Nick as our new manager. The quality and calibre of applications was better than we expected, and it was a difficult choice. We interviewed three candidates, all of whom brought something different to the table.

“Whilst Nick is young and still has plenty to learn he already has had a degree of success as a manager and is willing and eager to learn. The football committee were impressed with his realistic, but still ambitious targets. We were also impressed with his knowledge of local players and were satisfied that he has an extensive network of football contacts.

“We believe that his football values and philosophy best matched ours and that he will be able to hit the ground running and overall was the best fit for the club".