STEVE Mildenhall's appointment as the new first team goalkeeping coach at Swindon Town was confirmed this morning.

Manager Phil Brown confirmed to the Swindon Advertiser last night that Mildenhall, 40, was heading back to the County Ground to take over the role vacated by Dean Thornton's departure to the Taiwan national side.

Mildenhall, who made 38 appearances for the club between 1995 and 2001 and was crowned Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year before sealing a £150,000 move to Notts County, told swindontownfc.co.uk: "I'm ecstatic.

"It is something that I always hoped might happen one day and when I left as a player I always hoped that I might come back.

"There was a chance many moons when Danny Wilson was here to come back but we didn't quite get it over the line for whatever reason and it always bugged me never getting the chance to come back and play for the club.

"Being a local boy I left pretty early in my career and it is my hometown team that I've supported for a long, long time.

"The main draw was coming back to my old club and getting the opportunity to do my first-ever job as a first-team Goalkeeping Coach at a club I made my debut with was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.

"I am so pleased to be here and I am so pleased to be given the opportunity."

Brown told the Advertiser yesterday: “He’s a former player at the football club and knows what Swindon is about, he still lives in the area.

“I’m delighted to bring him in. And it takes a bit of pressure of Luke McCormick who has been doing the coaching while that gap has not been filled.

“I’ve certainly improved the goalkeeping department and I’ve certainly improved the midfield department.”

Mildenhall, who has more than 450 Football League appearances to his name after starting his career at the County Ground before moving onto clubs including Notts County, Yeovil, Southend and Rovers, originally joined Bristol on loan back in December 2012, before joining permanently in May 2013.

He made more than 120 first-team appearances for them, subsequently taking up the role of goalkeeper coach with the development squad upon his retirement.