John Reed has sensationally quit Harrogate Town to take over at struggling Stalybridge Celtic.

Reed was lured to the Cheshire side at the second attempt by an "irresistible" offer in the hope he can stop them sliding out of Conference North.

Former Leicester City player Lee Philpott has agreed to take over the running of the Harrogate team until a permanent replacement is installed.

The shock move was completed yesterday after Celtic chairman Peter Dennerly made a new offer to Reed and his assistant boss, Mark Atkins, on Wednesday, having had an initial approach in October turned down.

He signed a two-year deal last night before taking his first training session.

Said Reed: "I'm feeling a bit shell-shocked at the moment. It's a massive job but I've had four absolutely wonderful years with Harrogate Town.

"The good thing is I've gone with the blessing of the chairman and a lot of the players rang me last night when they heard, which was a lovely response."

Reed has a reputation for turning around desperate cases. When he joined Town four years ago, they were staring at relegation from UniBond division one into the Northern Counties East League but he kept them up and earned two promotions in the next few years to lift them to one win off the top of Nationwide North.

Reed, who ironically has contributed to the Celtic situation with two league wins over them this season, said the lack of support from the town and the local authority were major factors in his decision to switch sides.

He said: "Everybody knows that the support level was absolutely atrocious. A Conference North team with a population of 70,000 should be getting a 1,500 crowd every week like the big clubs.

"The other thing is the council in Harrogate want locking up when I'm having to drag lads to train in Barnsley.

"Nobody tries to help us with anything."

But he added: "It's a sad day really to leave but I'm over the moon with what we have achieved. It's not like I'm getting the sack and I know it's all been left in the best possible position.

"I want to thank everyone especially the players, who have been the best set of players I have had in 28 years."

The move has not come at a good time for the club as they had been hoping for a bumper crowd tomorrow thanks to the free admission offer for those who got vouchers at last week's draw with Lancaster.

Town face Stafford Rangers with Dominic Krief (flu), Colin Hunter (hamstring), Mark Haran and Mark Barnard (calf) all out. At least Philpott is fit after a hamstring problem.

Electricity company NEDL are sponsoring the game as a power failure wiped out the original fixture in October.

Updated: 11:34 Friday, January 14, 2005