New manager Pete Wild says he is excited by the chance to “go on a journey” with Barrow AFC.

The former FC Halifax Town boss has been unveiled in the top job at Holker Street on a three-year deal.

Wild has left National League club Halifax after three years in order to take charge of Barrow in their third season back in the Football League.

And the 38-year-old believes he can help the Bluebirds grow.

“I’m very excited by the project that was sold to me, by what I think the football club could be, and very excited to be back as a Football League manager,” Wild told The Mail.

“I think the club’s had a couple of false dawns, and they certainly now want to find a way to make things right.

“It’s going to be a slow process, we have to try and make incremental gains and steadily build the football club, and that suits me at my time in my career.

“I think I can help progress the football club forward, on and off the pitch.

“Coming from a working-class town of Oldham myself, I like the fact the owners and everybody around the club are local people who want the best for the town. That really appeals to me and where I’m from.

“The club wants to go on a journey and the club wants to give me time to try and progress it. They returned to the Football League and are desperate to get it right with the right manager, and it really appeals to me in that they’ve given me such a long contract – we can all go on this journey together and try and be as one with the fans, and staff, and the club, and players.

“We can all try and take this club to a better position.”

Barrow identified Wild as their top target after the departure of Phil Brown, but a deal was on hold until the end of Halifax’s season.

Wild had impressively steered the Shaymen to a fourth-placed finish and into the play-offs but they lost to Chesterfield in Tuesday’s eliminator game.

That was the prompt for the Bluebirds to push ahead and secure Wild’s services.

READ MORE: Barrow AFC confirm former FC Halifax Town boss Pete Wild as their new manager

“The [Halifax] chairman made me aware that Barrow had been in touch towards the end of the season, and we both agreed we were going to do nothing about it until the play-offs were over,” he said.

“From Wednesday to now has been quite a whirlwind. I just thought it was important that if I was going to make a move we did it quickly, to be respectful to Halifax for where they needed to be, and I wanted to get started here – as we know, with the league starting a week earlier this year, time is of the essence now. And we need to get planning quickly.”

Wild has Football League experience from his time at Oldham Athletic, but mas made his managerial name at Halifax with the club punching above their weight among some bigger-spending rivals in the National League.

On his time at the Yorkshire club, he added: “One thing I will say is I’ve learned from my mistakes, I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I try to learn from my mistakes.

“We tried to build a way of playing and a style of playing, and that’s allowed us to recruit people that suit the way we play. That’s taken time.

“The first year was crisis management, the second year was to try and develop a plan, and last year has been implementing the plan.

“I think the key has been patience, time, and a distinct way of playing that allows us to recruit to that way of playing.

“It’s what appeals to me most of all here at Barrow. Things will take time to grow but I have full confidence in mine and my staff’s ability to make sure in the medium and long-term we get it right and we deliver what people want here.

“But I have to say that I don’t like to brand myself on the way in. There will be short-term things we need to get right to earn results to keep us where we want to be, but with a look to the medium and long-term, making sure this club progresses year on year, and hopefully move us up the League Two table.”

The make-up of Wild’s backroom staff has yet to be confirmed but the new boss expects that to be resolved soon.

“Hopefully within the next week, my assistant will be in place, and maybe one or two more members of staff will join me,” he said.

“I’ve had success in the past by having a strong staff base and hopefully I can bring a couple with me that will help that.

“But that is not forgetting the people who are already in the building. There are some excellent people here and I need to balance [bringing in staff] with making sure people who are in jobs are happy in their roles.”