Woking Football Club have announced the appointment of former AFC Wimbledon and Notts County boss Neal Ardley as their new first-team manager.

The 52-year-old replaces Michael Doyle, who was sacked after a comprehensive 4-0 defeat at Gateshead with the Cards languishing in 19th place in the National League table.

Former Portsmouth, Sheffield United and Coventry City midfielder Doyle helped Woking avoid relegation last season and steered the Cardinals to a 17th-placed finish after being appointed in December 2023.

Ardley has been out of work since being sacked by York City in February.

He reached National League play-off finals with Notts County in 2020 and Solihull Moors in 2022, and won promotion to League One with AFC Wimbledon in 2016.

“We had a list of criteria we would want in various situations, both short-term and long-term, if a change had to be made,” said Woking director of football Jody Brown.

“We short-listed those who met the criteria, and we are pleased that we were able to act quickly and efficiently to get this done and appoint Neal as our new manager.”

Ardley played for Wimbledon, Watford, Cardiff City and Millwall before moving into coaching.

“Having coached and developed players at academy level, Neal moved into senior management where he has proved to be able to succeed in multiple scenarios,” said Brown.

“The diversity of his journey illustrates his flexibility, his promotions and play-off achievements tell us that he can take us to where we hope to be one day.

“His battles with relegation and team rebuilding processes are all invaluable experiences that he’ll have learned from.

“Neal has the values we want in our head coach.

“He brings a pragmatism to improve our current position, but also the principles and coaching philosophy to be able to help us evolve into what we want to be in the future.”