Neil Baker leaves Crewe Alexandra after 23 years at Gresty Road

Crewe's head of recruitment and former assistant manager Neil Baker has left the club after 23 years at Gresty Road.

Ex-boss Dario Gradi installed him as his right-hand man in 1994 and Baker stayed in the role under Steve Davis, Steve Holland and Gudjon Thordarson.

He was subsequently placed in charge of the recruitment department and more recently performed the role on a part-time basis while managing Leek Town.

Baker, 63, will now manage the non-league outfit full-time.

He is in his third spell as Leek boss, having taken them to the FA Trophy final at Wembley in 1990.

"Neil has been a great servant to this football club," Crewe manager David Artell told the club's website., external

"He deserves all the plaudits which will no doubt be coming his way. He's been terrific to me personally and he is going to be a loss to the club.

"But Neil explained he wants a crack at management, and I wouldn't try to stand in his way."

Former Crewe midfielder Robbie Savage, now a BBC pundit, is in no doubt about Baker's influence on his football education.

Speaking in July, when it was announced Baker would be leaving later in the year, Savage told BBC Radio Stoke: "Without Neil Baker, I don't know if I'd have had the career I had.

"There were times when I felt like giving up, that I wasn't good enough. But he was always the one who believed in me."