New Peterborough United manager on bringing the good times back to the club
New Peterborough United manager Luke Williams wants to bring the good times back to London Road.
Williams has been out of football for nine months since leaving Swansea City in February 2025 and returns to take over a side rooted to the bottom of League One and with the worst goalscoring record in the division, alongside Northampton Town.
Those damning statistics fly in the face of the Posh reputation at this level, but chairman Darragh MacAnthony has now appointed a man with a fine record of delivering attacking and entertaining football. His winning record is mixed, and relative to the level he’s worked at. Swindon were relegated from League One when he was manager at the end of the 2016-17 season.
"I hope I can deliver attractive football people can enjoy, and develop players who can go on and play at the highest level,” Williams told the Posh Plus service.
"I’m very excited to be here. I’ve had a warm welcome and I’m looking forward to meeting and working with the players. We get started tomorrow morning and I can’t wait. We have a lot to try and learn about each other and we need to do it quickly to work out what we can and can’t do.
"Teams and squads have peaks and troughs. The league position is not relevant right now. We will see if we can change one or two things, find some rhythm and form, and then see some better results.
"When I spoke to the chairman, and to Barry Fry, it really felt like a good fit for us all. I had really good conversations with Darragh. They made me feel enthused and that it was an opportunity I couldn’t afford to miss. He made the decision very simple for me. It was great to listen to his enthusiasm and to find out he knew so much about me as a coach and what he felt a good team would look like.
“From those very first conversations we had, it felt we were very much on the same page. My teams have often had a lot of the ball and scored a lot of goals, but there is probably some perception out there that the team won’t be aggressive defensively, yet that is not a fair one. Hopefully we can combine all of those things.”
Williams will be assisted by former Brighton and Exeter City midfielder Ryan Harley. They worked together at Notts County and Swansea City. Their first game in charge will be an FA Cup first round tie at home to Cardiff City on Saturday,
"It’s crucial Ryan came with me,” Williams added. “He is an incredible guy, a very, very good coach and he was a fantastic player who would have fitted into any of my teams. It’s a great game to start with. Cardiff is a brilliant football club and I had a great rivalry with them when I was at Swansea. I still live in the part of the world.
"We haven’t got long with the players before the game, but we will try and make a few points to them and hope we see them in the game.”