Former Portsmouth, Manchester City, AFC Bournemouth striker and ex-Hawks boss Lee Bradbury named Eastleigh manager

Bradbury, 46, who also had a seven-year stint managing National League South Hawks, leaves his role as assistant manager at League Two Crawley to take up the vacant hotseat at the Silverlake Stadium.

The former Hawks boss arrives at Eastleigh with the club sitting 15th in the National League table and is named as Ben Strevens' successor, following his sacking last month.

On his appointment as the Spitfires’ new manager, Bradbury told the club website: ‘I’m really pleased, it’s been a tough decision to leave Crawley but it’s one I’m pleased that I’ve done and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

‘I felt like I was ready for a new challenge as a manager again and it was exciting to come to a club like this to get that opportunity.

‘Eastleigh has always been a club on the up over previous years, as I know from my time at Havant. Even though the clubs have been local rivals I knew that Eastleigh were always looking up and I believe that is still the case, which was a big attraction for me.

‘There’s a good fanbase and good club here, and things have really improved behind the scenes around the ground too. I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen so far.’

Across two career playing spells with Pompey, Bradbury made 167 appearances and netted 46 times for the Blues.

The Isle of Wight-born player-turned-boss joined Man City for a £3m fee in the summer of 1997 from Pompey and also had spells at the likes of Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Oxford United and AFC Bournemouth over a 17-year playing career.

The Cherries handed Bradbury his first chance in management in January 2011 before he took charge of the Hawks in the summer of 2012.

During his seven years at the club, Bradbury guided Hawks to back-to-back promotion and led the club in their first and only season at National League level in the 2018-19 season before leaving Westleigh Park in April 2019.