Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town have appointed Lincoln City boss Danny Cowley as their new manager.
The 40-year-old succeeds Jan Siewert, who was sacked on 16 August after three winless league games and a Carabao Cup first-round defeat by Cowley’s Lincoln.
His first game as Terriers boss will be Sunday’s Yorkshire derby at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
Cowley guided Lincoln to promotions from the National League and League Two in his three full seasons in charge.
He led Lincoln to an FA Cup quarter-final while they were a non-league club, with victories over Championship sides Ipswich and Brighton and Premier League Burnley en route to the last eight.
Cowley, who will be assisted by his brother Nicky, also led the club to success in the Checkatrade Trophy in 2018, beating Shrewsbury in the club’s first ever appearance in a Wembley final.
“Nicky and I have a burning ambition to challenge ourselves at the highest possible level,” said Cowley in a statement on Lincoln’s website.
“We don’t know if an opportunity as good as this one will come around again and we never want to live with regret.”
‘There was an obvious chemistry’
Huddersfield were relegated from the Premier League last season with just 16 points and are 23rd in the Championship after failing to win any of their first six matches.
They have been under the caretaker charge of coach Mark Hudson since German Siewert was sacked after the defeat by Fulham.
Town chairman Phil Hodgkinson said Cowley was the club’s “number one target” for the role.
“Having approached Lincoln City and gained permission to speak to the Cowleys, they initially decided they wanted to continue the superb job they had done at that club and turned down the opportunity to discuss our job,” he said.
“At that stage we could have easily pursued one of the other options we had identified – all of which are fine managers – but we felt it was important to try to persuade them to talk to us. We firmly believed that they were the best men to take us forward, and we didn’t want to give up on them.
“Our persistence paid off and when we spoke, there was an obvious chemistry. They believe in the way we operate as a club and it affirmed that they would be a superb fit for us. As such, I’m delighted that they are joining us.”
‘The hardest decision of our lives’
Lincoln chairman Clive Nates said the Cowley brothers “leave with our best wishes” after helping the club to “unprecedented success” since joining in the summer of 2016.
In a message to Lincoln supporters, Cowley described their spell in charge of the Imps as “unbelievably special” and that departing the club was “the hardest decision of our lives”.
He added: “It has been the greatest privileges for Nicky and I to manage Lincoln City. We will forever hold this football club in our hearts.
“We will never ever forget the support we have had and know that we would not be in this fortunate position without all of you.”
