Jon has been Assistant Manager at The UTS Stadium since March 2021, and steps up into the role as manager following the departure of long-standing Chris Swailes, who stepped down from his role as Manager last week due to personal reasons.

As well as holding a UEFA A License, Jon has previous managerial experience at North Shields and West Allotment Celtic in The Northern League, as well as at Blyth Town FC. He has also spent two spells as Assistant Manager with Morpeth Town, where he played a key role in their promotion to the Northern Premier League and their Northumberland Senior Cup victory in 2018/19.

Summing up his emotions after the appointment was confirmed, Jon said: “Firstly, I want to say a big thanks to Swaz. He brought me to the club and is somebody I have enormous respect for. I’ve enjoyed working with him for the past two years, and he has done an excellent job for this club.

“I’m proud to be manager of Dunston. It is a great club with great history and tradition, and I will be giving everything to ensure we are successful. I’m grateful to the chairman and his committee for giving me this opportunity.”

Dunston have secured back to back sixth place finishes over the last two seasons in the Northern Premier League East Division, with the most recent campaign seeing Dunston miss out on the playoff places by just three points.

Coming in as Manager, Jon firmly believes that the club are ready to attack the season ahead and make more history. He said: “We have a great group of players, with a good chemistry and we are not far away. We played some great football last season but just feel short on the final day. We will use that as motivation for the coming season.”