Former Cray Wanderers and Tunbridge Wells boss Bird joins City, having most recently taken a role as chairman at Premier Division rivals Holmesdale.

A club statement reads: “The club are pleased to announce the appointment of Keith Bird as manager with immediate effect.

“We felt that it was vitally important after the last couple of seasons to look to recruit somebody with experience, and Keith has that in abundance.

“As a UEFA B coach, Keith will bring a range of experience and expertise in helping Canterbury City FC to maintain our SCEL Premier Step 5 status. He matches our ambitions of pushing much higher when we have the structure and facilities in place.

“Having been part of the staff at Bromley, along with being 1st Team Manager at Tunbridge Wells and Cray Wanderers we felt that Keith will provide great ability and sustainability in helping shape the future of CCFC and driving us forward.

“Most recently Keith has been chairman of Holmesdale where he has been helping the club in their first season back at Step 5 and we are grateful to Holmesdale for allowing Keith to step down from that role in order to accept this position at Canterbury City.

“He will be assisted by Sam Wilson and Dan Lawrence, for which we are delighted. They have albeit in a short time, created a feel-good factor around the place and had positive results. This is an exciting appointment we are certain this is a massive coup for the club as a whole. We obviously would like to thank Dan and Sam for a fantastic effort in helping build a team spirit and the results they achieved in a small space of time. This was one of the deciding factors in asking for them to carry on helping with the good start they had made.

“With our next home fixture against Fisher on 29th January, we hope to see a great crowd to welcome Keith and to bring lots of noise and support”.