William P. Morrissey                                                 Immediately
Senior Vice President
(617) 628-4000


                         CENTRAL BANCORP, INC. ANNOUNCES
                           NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                          AND CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

     SOMERVILLE,  MASSACHUSETTS,  March  26,  2002 - The Board of  Directors  of
Central Bancorp,  Inc.  (NASDAQ  National  Market:  CEBK) has elected Michael K.
Devlin as Senior Vice President,  Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer and Paul
S. Feeley as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

     From 1997 until joining  Central  Bancorp,  Mr. Devlin,  who is a Certified
Public Accountant  (CPA), was a Financial  Consultant to the banking industry in
Massachusetts.  Between  1973 and 1997,  he was a member of the  accounting  and
business  advisory practice at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he served as a Partner
for 11 years.

     In his new role, Mr. Feeley,  who joined the Company in 1997 as Senior Vice
President,  Treasurer and Chief Financial  Officer,  is responsible for ensuring
the  implementation  and execution of  information,  operations  and  technology
systems for Central Bancorp.

     Central Bancorp, Inc., is the holding company for Central Bank, whose legal
name is Central Co-operative Bank, a  Massachusetts-chartered  co-operative bank
operating eight full-service banking offices in suburban Boston.


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