FORMER Newport County AFC captain Byron Anthony has been appointed as head of coaching at Bristol Rovers' academy.

Anthony has returned to Rovers, where he made 163 appearances between 2006 and 2012, after leaving his role as coach of Swansea City's under-18s last week.

The 37-year-old played 32 times for the Exiles, including a start in the famous win over Wrexham at Wembley that earned a return to the Football League.

He captained his hometown club before retiring in 2014 after failing to fully recover from a double break of his leg in the EFL Cup upset of then Championship side Brighton.

Anthony became academy manager at County after hanging up his boots and after helping the next generation of Swans will now return to the Gas.

"I am delighted to announce that Byron Anthony will be joining the team as our new academy head of coaching," said academy manager Chris Hargreaves.

"Byron has obviously worked with us recently, and as well as being a former player at the club he brings to the role a wealth of experience.

"We have already discussed several ideas to enhance what we are currently doing very well within the academy. We really want to develop our staff and players to be as competitive and successful as possible."

Byron will be officially joining the club later this week.