He was appointed caretaker-manager at Macclesfield Town on 2 October 2006 after the sacking of manager of Brian Horton,[REF] before the board appointed Paul Ince as permanent manager three weeks later; Ince took them to a 22nd-place finish in 2006-07, one place and two points above the relegation zone.
In October 2008, Brightwell was brought to back to Port Vale by Dean Glover in a temporary coaching capacity [REF].