RICHARD WILKINS has left Leiston just weeks after leading them to their highest ever league finish following a disagreement over finances for next season.
The former Bury Town manager took the Leiston reins in October 2014, replacing Steve Ball, and guided them to an eighth-place finish in the Ryman Premier last term.
The Suffolk club only missed out on a play-off spot after some poor late season form, which saw them win just one of their final seven games, but they also made the Suffolk FA Premier Cup final before losing to Lowestoft Town.
Wilkins’ departure which was confirmed on Wednesday morning and just 48 hours later, the Blues confirmed that former boss Glenn Driver had returned to take charge of the first team after managing Leiston’s reserves last season.
Chairman Andy Crisp said: “Richard’s departure was a bit of a shock. He has done a great job of balancing the books, so to speak, since he’s been in charge of the budget but there were one or two bits and pieces that we couldn’t agree on.
“We had a manager’s meeting last Thursday and further conversations with other board members over the weekend. There were some areas that we were looking for some compromises and unfortunately for both parties we couldn’t seem to find those.”
Crisp admitted that the club are “punching above our weight” at Step 3 and that the Blues were going to start putting more focus on their youth sides.
“We’re trying to reshape the way we run the club,” he added. “We want to be competitive in the Ryman Premier but we also want to set up a system that will allow us to develop some of the youth.
“Glenn and Tony (Kinsella, coach) have made massive strides over the past 12 months, attracting some quality young players to the club.
“Along with those already in the fold we feel as a club we have a very strong structure taking shape and that is down to the hard work being put in place behind the scenes.”
