Ian Holloway has been appointed as Swindon Town manager

The 61-year-old has agreed a deal until the end of the season with the Sky Bet League Two strugglers.

His first game in charge is set to be Swindon's FA Cup first-round clash with Colchester United, on November 2.

Holloway returns to management for the first time since resigning as Grimsby boss in December 2020.

Kennedy, who was dismissed earlier on Friday morning, registered only two wins from 13 league matches after being appointed on a two-year contract in May, leaving the Robins just one place above the relegation zone.

"I'm delighted to be back working in football after a period out of the game as I wanted to get back into it if the right opportunity arose which, with this opportunity, I feel is the perfect fit for me," Holloway told Swindon's website.

"Conversations happened very quickly and both sides were very keen to get the deal done and, of course, I was delighted to engage with a club like Swindon Town, a club of whom I know a lot about due to my location and knowledge of the local area."

Holloway has managed 989 games in English football across spells with Bristol Rovers, QPR, Plymouth, Leicester, Blackpool, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Grimsby.

He will be at the County Ground on Saturday to watch Swindon's match against Gillingham.

First-team coaches Marcus Bignot, Steve Mildenhall and Gavin Gunning are set to oversee the fixture following the departure of Kennedy.

Swindon's head of football Jamie Russell said: "We are confident that Ian's experience and leadership qualities which he has shown for many years across the top five divisions of professional football will be a significant asset for Swindon Town Football Club.

"His passionate approach coupled with his location being more local to the south-west area along with, most importantly, a desire to build a hard-working and entertaining side is a large part of what made us believe he would be the ideal fit for us."