However, the task remains the same — to bring some success to a club that has under-achieved for too long, and which was relegated to the Evo-stik Northern Premier League last season.
Like the men who preceded and followed him, Briggs was unable to arrest the slow decline that gripped the club around five years ago. But he believes he has nothing to prove to the supporters.
“I’m hoping that the fans and the board will welcome me back so that I can have a good crack at it again,” said Briggs.
“When I was manager in 2014-15 the club was in very difficult circumstances. Even so, I really couldn’t have put more into the job than I did. I gave it 150 per cent. It was just one of those things that it didn’t work out.
“But I learned a lot and I’m still learning. I’m still relatively young and I’m raring to go and give it my all again.”
While no one can deny Briggs’s enthusiasm for the game — it was the key quality that led to him getting the Bower Fold manager’s job — he accepts the enormity of the challenge facing him and Burr. Even though club chairman Rob Gorski has pledged a competitive budget, Briggs knows it will be far from easy to win promotion at the first attempt.
He explained: “I spent some time at Ashton United as a player and I’m confident I understand the level. I know numerous players too. If we do things right I’m sure that we can put a team out that can compete and challenge.
“But I’m in no way underestimating the NPL and after so many years in National League North we’ll be finding our feet a little bit. I’m also aware that as a relegated side, Stalybridge Celtic will be a prized scalp for the other clubs. We also have a nice ground for teams to visit. We’ll have to be on our toes and grind out results because there’ll be a lot of pressure on us.”
Briggs’s return to Bower Fold is also a reunion with Steve Burr. He has worked with the former Macclesfield striker several times as a player and staff-member, most recently as his assistant at Southport last season. The two men have an excellent relationship and it is one which Briggs believes will serve Stalybridge well.
He said: “I’m looking forward to it. Celtic are a good club with good people and I know Steve through and through. I’ve been with him four or five times.
“I’m so pleased to be back at Bower Fold because Stalybridge are a team that’s very close to me. I think it’s a great opportunity to get in there again and help as much as I can so that we hopefully do better than over the last few years.”