Kieron Purtill to stay on as Widnes coach in 2020

Drew Darbyshire 24 Jul 2019 5:00 PM

Kieron Purtill has agreed to remain head coach of Widnes until at least the end of the 2020 season.

The 42-year-old arrived at the Vikings ahead of the 2019 campaign and has now singed a new one-year contract with the club.

Purtill – who has handed out six debuts to academy products this season – has been in charge of the club while they experienced a period of administration, which saw them docked of 12 points in the Championship.

He commented: “We’ve got a big rebuild on our hands. The last 12 months has been a testing one for everyone involved with the club, but I think the silver lining that has occurred through all of this is the support that the fans and sponsors have given us over that period.

“In testing times, it can sometimes bring the best out of people, and that is certainly the case here and I’m excited to be a part of it.

“For me, that is something that is very encouraging moving forward. If you put that together with the amount of young players we’ve brought through, the future of the club looks bright. From next year, we can reset and start a brand new future for the club.

“We’ve got some unfinished business here and we need to put the club back where it belongs, which is to eventually get back into Super League and challenging for trophies.

“The club moving part-time is a different challenge, and whilst it closes doors for some, it opens up opportunities for different players that might not have been available to us previously.”