Former Preston North End, Hull City and Derby County boss rewarded despite relegation to sixth tier

Former Preston North End manager Phil Brown will remain with Kidderminster Harriers despite their relegation from the National League.

The Harriers will be playing in the National League North next season after finishing third from bottom. Kidderminster's relegation was confirmed on April 13 and in their final match they lost 4-1 to Barnet.

Brown was appointed on a deal until the end of the season. He replaced Russ Penn who at the time of his sacking had left the club bottom of the table. Despite being unable to retain their fifth tier status, the 64-year-old will remain at the Aggborough Stadium for the next two seasons at least.

"Relegation hurt us all, we must turn that hurt into determination to bounce back," said director of football Dean Holdsworth on the official club website.

"The arrival of Phil Brown gave the players, supporters and the whole club a new sense of belief, and the re-signing of Phil indicates the chairman's ambition to return to the National League as soon as possible.

"We're delighted to secure their services for another two seasons. We look forward to pressing the ‘reset’ button; plenty of hard work is already going on to ensure we are in the best possible shape to compete next season."

Brown began his coaching career at Blackpool working under Sam Allardyce. It wouldn't be until 2005 that he took his first full-time senior management position, taking charge of Derby County. He lasted just seven months but went on to be a success at Hull City, winning the play-offs with them and then keeping them in the Premier League.

He became manager of Preston in 2011 but was unable to keep them from being relegated, but was relieved of his duties when they were outside the play-off places in December. Since his departure from Deepdale he had two spells at Southend United in between managing Swindon Town and Pune City/Hyderabad.