The 37-year-old will take charge of his first Ebac Northern League Division Two game at Teesdale Park on Friday night when Sunderland West End travel down the A19.
And Coltman can’t wait for the promotion battle to get going again after being attracted by the vision of the Thornaby FC board – led by Middlesbrough-based critical power infrastructure specialist Durata’s Alison and John McGee – and director of football Andy Campbell.
The former Esh Winning manager said: “When I first spoke to Andy about the opportunity I could immediately see the potential here.
“I want to go on that journey with the club. I want to help make big progress, climb the league together as one club.
“The board is serious about achieving something here and wanting to go forward. That’s why I wanted to work with them and hopefully I can help them achieve what they want. I think they will find a way to make that happen.
“I am really looking forward to Friday night. I have been to the ground during the last couple of seasons so it will be nice to be in the home dug out this time.
“We want a positive start because every game is a huge one now, they are all almost cup finals because of the position we are in.”
Thornaby sit sixth, level on points with Chester-le-Street United sitting in the final play-off spot. Esh Winning are four points above them in fourth.
Coltman has been impressed with the squad he has inherited and is looking forward to trying to get the best out of the players along with Shane Gavin and Barrie Smith on his backroom staff.
He said: “We have to accept that this league is really tight. It is not an easy league. If you are not at it on a particular day then any team can beat anyone.
“We will have to be really focused during the run-in and getting the transition right is important to making a positive start under us and the players have been receptive.
“I am optimistic we can get promoted, but it won’t be easy. There will be some challenges along the way. The squad is exciting, there’s some brilliant players for the level we are at.”
It was a difficult decision for Coltman to leave Esh Winning, who he had guided up to fourth, to take over at Thornaby.
He has spent the last three seasons at West Terrace turning them from a team threatened with relegation into genuine promotion contenders.
That was his first Northern League role, having previously led Spennymoor Under-23s and Under-18s since coaching and managing Great Britain to gold in the Special Olympics in Los Angeles in 2015 and Abu Dhabi in 2019, respectively.
“That was magical, truly unbelievable,” said Coltman, a maths teacher day-to-day. “That was where my coaching all started really because my dad, who passed away suddenly in 2020, suggested we do it when I was doing my coaching badges at university.
“Since then I have worked with young and exciting players and we want to do that now at Thornaby, bringing in young talented players who are highly motivated to do well.
“It was a hard decision to leave Esh. That shows you how excited I am to be involved here now at this club.
“And I’d just like to say that Esh Winning is a brilliant club, run by brilliant people and they provided me with a fantastic opportunity as a coach.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity I had there because they were very supportive from day one. I wish them so well and I am very grateful for the help they have given.”
