Paul Britton is hailing his four years managing Yate Town as an “honour and a privilege” after stepping down.
The Southern League‘s Bluebells are looking for a new manager after Britton, pictured, and his touchline team left Lodge Road on Monday.
A former Bristol Rovers youth coach, ex-Bitton and Longwell Sports boss Britton was appointed in April 2016 as the successor to Craig Laird.
He went on to mastermind the club’s promotion back to the Southern League’s Premier Division South as play-offs winners in 2018-19.
Thank you for your four years of hard work and resulting successes on the pitch from the Board of Directors and committee. All the best for the future, you will always be welcome at Lodge Road. #bluebells pic.twitter.com/hrTlLBcjKI
— Yate Town FC (@YateTownFC) June 29, 2020
Britton told the club’s website : “It has been an honour and a privilege to manage this football club. Throughout our time here we have endeavoured to do our best for Yate Town FC. Hopefully, we have given you something to enjoy during our tenure. There have been challenges and we have had plenty of ups and downs during the last four years.
“Our task was to maintain Southern League status with limited resources which we all achieved. In our third season we managed to gain promotion into the Southern Premier Division which was an incredible experience, to then maintain that position was a fantastic achievement.
“I hope you all agree we now leave the club in a much better position on the pitch than when we arrived. More often than not you leave a club because you have had a disagreement or you have not delivered on the pitch.
“I firmly believe we have over-achieved in our time and we are rightly very proud of this success. John Lester, Martin Cutler, and Nigel Hawkins and myself could not have worked harder to give Yate Town the platform it now has. We would have liked to have continued on this journey but feel now is the time to move on and allow someone else to take the club forward.
“One of my last tasks as manager was to ensure that the football matters were left in good hands. this is the reason why I was influential in bringing Richard Thompson back to Yate Town as director of football. I believe he is the right person to evolve the club on the pitch and hopefully influence off the pitch.”
I’ve just helped @YateTownFC by raising £3.31. Join me and raise free donations when you shop online with easyfundraising. https://t.co/aUifmvNdJR
— Denny John (@Dennyjohn18) July 2, 2020
The Blues say they are looking for a manager to build on Britton’s legacy and secure their future in the Southern League’s top flight by continuing to develop young talent.
A club statement read: “In his four-year tenure with the Bluebells, Britton and his coaches, John Lester and Martin Cutler, guided Yate back to the Southern Premier Division with a play-off triumph in 2018/19, beating Cinderford Town at Lodge Road.
“Britton’s philosophy of embracing young talent matched the club`s development policy and created strong connections with professional clubs in the area and aided Yate with some excellent loan signings.
“The club will now search for a new manager to take over from Britton and continue to develop a resilient squad, offering opportunities to exciting young talent, and secure our position in the Southern Premier League.”
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Images courtesy of The Non-League Paper & @YateTownFC/Twitter
