MELKSHAM Town have made key changes to their management structure, with Darren Perrin taking over the chairmanship of the Toolstation League Premier Division club.

First-team boss Perrin will move upstairs at Oakfields to replace Dave Wiltshire, who is stepping down after overseeing the club's move to their new edge-of-town complex.

Kieran Baggs, who assisted Perrin last season as Melksham finished third in the table and lifted the Les Phillips Cup, will take over the management reins, having previously tasted success by managing Trowbridge Town to the Wiltshire League title in 2015-16.

Baggs was in place to succeed Perrin next year but following Wiltshire's request to step down from his role - he will remain involved in the business side of the club - the changes have been brought forward by 12 months.

Wiltshire said: “It is with great sadness that I will be relinquishing my role as chairman.

"It’s been an honour and a privilege to be the club's chairman for the past seven years and I feel extremely proud of what we have all achieved. The club has come on in leaps and bounds and now has a tremendous facility to support its future plans.

"I have decided to do this now as it fits in with what I need to for myself moving forward. I will now be spending much more time with my family and will also be using my extra free time to improve my golf.

"In the short to medium term I will continue to help the club but this will be on the business side as opposed to the football.

"I am delighted personally that Darren Perrin accepted the board's offer to become the new senior chairman.

"I have worked with Darren for the last five years and I can honestly say that you will not find anyone that is more passionate and cares about our club than him.

"It’s been my pleasure to work alongside him and I feel that we both have learnt so much from each other.

"Whilst I know and expect that a lot of our fans will question this decision, we feel its perfect fit as Darren’s football awareness and experience will be invaluable to our club moving forward.

"I am also delighted that Kieran Baggs has accepted the role to become first team manager and I know he is so excited and can’t wait to get going.

"After spending a year working alongside Darren we feel he is also the perfect fit for us.

"He will bring in some new ideas that’s for sure but he also knows what big shoes he has to fill and fully understands and appreciates what he has to live up to.

Perrin, whose father Mick was a past chairman of Melksham Town, added: "It is an incredible honour to be asked to become chairman of Melksham Town FC and one that I will endeavour to do to the best of my ability.

"I am under no illusions on how hard a task it will be to follow in the footsteps of Dave Wiltshire who has worked tirelessly for the past seven years and who was the leading figure for both the football and rugby clubs in helping us get the magnificent facilities that we have today at Oakfields.

"I am incredibly proud of my achievements and success that we have had in the last four seasons (winning a trophy every season) especially winning the Western Premier Division title for the first time in the club’s history and I now look forward to working with Kieran Baggs in hopefully taking this club into the Southern League and achieve even more success.

Baggs said: “Firstly I would like to thank Melksham Town Football Club, Dave Wiltshire and the committee for the fantastic opportunity to become the manager of such a prestigious club.

"At the age of 28, it’s a real privilege.

"I am very aware of the ethos of the club and how it operates with home-based players and exciting young talent coming through the system and this definitely something I will continue to encourage.

"The team at present is made up of local lads who love playing for Melksham and after speaking with them they are all very excited to get started and look forward to what the season will bring.

"I would also like to go on record and say what an unbelievable job Darren Perrin has done for this football club.

"The achievement of winning the Toolstation Premier League and the Les Phillips Cup for the first time in the club’s history alongside the (Wiltshire) Senior Cup victories are there for everyone to see and it’s been a huge honour to work alongside and play for him.

"I hope to continue the success of winning trophies and add to the clubs achievements.

"I can’t wait to get started; we have some mouth-watering pre-season friendlies lined up thanks to Darren.

"All the players will be back in this week to start preparations for the new season and we hope that all the supporters share our excitement in starting the new season in earnest with an FA Cup tie our first competitive fixture on August 5.”

Melksham Town will also set up a new 10 or 12-strong committee to help cope with the workload of a club with some 100-plus adult playing members, 400 boys and girls and a fully operational social club.