Ex-Rovers skipper and Scunthorpe United defender Andy Butler appointed boss of Doncaster Rovers Belles

The Doncaster-born former Rovers skipper has replaced Zoey Shaw in the hotseat after her departure by mutual consent was confirmed earlier this week.

He will manage the Belles while continuing his own playing career with Scunthorpe United.

And Belles chief executive Russ Green believes the 36-year-old will deliver a major boost to the club.

“I had a chat with Andy who said he’d love the opportunity,” Green said.

“He’s a Doncaster lad who loves the club and has great standing as a coach already.

“He’ll be coming in to strengthen the team up and hopefully kick on for the rest of the season

“I think it’s a great asset for us to have, having a professional footballer and coach coming in to take over in a managerial capacity.

“He’s got great experience and hopefully that can come across to the girls.

“I believe they’ll really learn a lot from him.

“We have a few games coming up where we’re looking to keep getting results on the board and as we’ve said from day one, this has been a consolidation season for us and we want to build a squad to kick on with next year.”

The Belles currently sit third bottom in FAWNL Division One Midlands – the fourth tier of the women’s game.

Butler oversaw training for the first time on Thursday night and will take charge of his first game on Sunday when the Belles host Huddersfield Town at Rossington Main in the County FA Cup (2pm).

He left the Keepmoat last summer after helping Rovers to the semi-finals of the League One play-offs, capping a five year stint at his hometown club.

During that time he developed his own coaching career, working in the age group set up of the academy which he continued through this season with the U14s.

Green says he is looking for Butler to lift the squad as they look to move away from the bottom end of the table in the second half of the campaign.

He said: “We have some good players here who need galvanising over the next few weeks and I think Andy is the man to do that and bring the team together.

“Andy will come in and have the opportunity to assess the squad and then, after the game this weekend, we have two weeks to get some solid work in ready for the next league game, and then that gives him the opportunity to put a real stamp on things.”

Butler will be assisted by former Scarborough and Halifax Town goalkeeper Nick Buxton, who has been coaching in the Rovers academy.

Dav Doone will step down as first-team assistant manager to focus solely on his role as RTC technical director, bringing through youngsters in the Belles set up.

Green said: “We would like to place on record their thanks to Dav for his work with the first-team so far this season.

“He wanted to focus on the RTC and we believe that is the future of the club meaning he has one of the most important roles for us.”