Former Peterborough United star Michael Bostwick has been named player-interim manager of St Albans City, and his first match in charge could not be bigger: an FA Cup First Round trip to Burton Albion.
St Albans confirmed the decision after the departure of Ian Culverhouse earlier this week, with Director of Football Harry Wheeler moving quickly to put Bostwick in temporary control.
The 37-year-old steps straight into the dugout and will be supported by the club’s existing staff while the board begins the search for a permanent boss.
Bostwick, who made more than 200 appearances for Peterborough United and lifted the EFL Trophy at Wembley during his time with the Posh, is expected to lead the Saints at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday in one of the standout underdog stories of the round.
🤝 Director of Football Harry Wheeler has appointed Michael Bostwick as Player-Interim Manager of St Albans City FC following the departure of Ian Culverhouse.
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/2GYnDGItZ2#SACFC 😇 pic.twitter.com/97GB2SlXtZ
— St Albans City FC (@stalbanscityfc) October 29, 2025
A Leader With Pedigree
Bostwick is no stranger to pressure or expectation. His reputation as a physical, combative organiser followed him throughout the EFL, including a spell at Burton Albion and a title-winning stint with Lincoln City. Now St Albans want that same presence in the technical area.
This is not a gentle introduction to management. Culverhouse and assistant Paul Bastock left their posts only days before what is comfortably the Saints’ biggest fixture of the season, and Bostwick has been thrown the responsibility of steadying the squad for a tie that carries profile, prize money and jeopardy.
The Emirates FA Cup First Round delivers proper jeopardy for non-league sides every single year, but this has an extra twist: Bostwick will begin his managerial career by sending St Albans to face one of his former clubs, Burton Albion, at their ground.
Burton Away, Money On The Line, No Time To Settle
The timeline is brutal. Bostwick was confirmed yesterday and is due in the technical area at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday afternoon. There is no bedding-in period, no quiet home game, no chance to reshape training. It is straight into knockout football against a League One side who are under pressure themselves.
Burton have been fighting at the lower end of League One and know an early FA Cup exit to non-league opposition would only increase scrutiny. That makes the tie dangerous from both angles. For St Albans, this is an opportunity to land a result that lives forever and bank serious money at a time of instability. For Burton, anything other than professionalism risks national embarrassment.
The stakes are obvious: win and you move into the Second Round with momentum and prize money, lose and the questions get ugly fast.
There are problems for Bostwick to solve immediately. The new boss has been managing his own fitness after a recent hamstring concern, and St Albans are already stretched with knocks to key players ahead of the weekend. That means he may have to direct operations from the touchline rather than influence it as a player, despite being officially appointed as player-interim manager.
Even so, this is exactly the sort of stage that suits him. Across a career that took in the Championship with Peterborough United, promotion pushes, Wembley finals and bruising relegation fights, Bostwick built a reputation as a defiant, shoulders-back figure who drags teams through difficult moments.
Now he has to do it wearing a manager’s jacket instead of a number on his back, and he has to do it immediately, with the FA Cup cameras watching.
