MITCHELL Cowling has followed in his father Robbie's footsteps after becoming the new chairman of SSE Airtricity League premier club Waterford FC.

The son of the Colchester United chairman is a long-time friend of Richard Forrest, who has taken over from Lee Power as the Irish club's new owner.

In a statement, Forrest said: "I am excited to name Mitchell Cowling as our new chairman.

"Mitch played a big part of pinpointing this fantastic club for us to take over and introduced me to Lee Power earlier this year.

"Mitch has been a business consultant for me over the last 10 years where he has helped several of my businesses grow from strength to strength and I am excited to bring him to Waterford FC for our new challenge.

"He comes from a very good football family, and he has so many contacts.

"We have some good boys coming in in July to help really build the club up.

"For me July is massive, and if we can get the boys that we want then the second half of the season we should rip it up."

Waterford last month appointed former Millwall and QPR midfielder Marc Bircham as their new manager.

The 43-year-old follows in the footsteps of former Ireland internationals John Sheridan and Kevin Sheedy in taking charge of Blues.

Bircham also had a stint in the MLS as Chicago Fire's assistant manager.

Waterford, who lie ninth in the SSE Airtricity League premier division table, won 3-1 at Dundalk, on Friday night.

Forrest added: "As you are all aware the club has had a challenging start to the season due to the pandemic.

"My main focus is to immediately invest in the first team and make sure the club keeps premier league status.

"As a collective, we have identified some great talent and hopefully, in July we will have some exciting news to share with you."