Lordswood Football Club are pleased to announce Neil Hunter as the new 1st team Manager.
Following the resignation of Darren Anslow, the committee have moved quickly to find a replacement.
Neil is no stranger to the Southern Counties East League having been involved with clubs for the past 15 years. He has worked previously at Erith & Belvedere and Beckenham Town and was part of the successful management team at Fisher that challenged for the Premier Division title two years ago. He was part of the Punjab United team early in the 2019/20 season before joining Anslow’s coaching setup at Martyn Grove in January. Neil had impressed the committee in the short space of time that he was involved and expressed an immediate interest in taking on the role once Darren had advised of his intention to leave.
Joining Neil at the club are Michael Dodsworth (Assistant Manager) and Sonny Gladdish (1st team Coach). Michael needs no introduction to Lordswood having featured as a player during his career and has played at many clubs in the SCEFL and Isthmian Leagues. He recently had a coaching stint at local rivals K Sports. Sonny had stints in both the Charlton Athletic Academy and Millwall’s Academy as a player before moving into Coaching. He had 4 successful years with Maidstone United in their youth set up, before joining East Grinstead Town in the Isthmian League. He has also had roles at Hastings United, Margate, Sheppey United and K Sports.
Vice Chairman, Paul Caulfield said: “We are delighted to welcome Neil, Michael and Sonny on board as the new management of the first team. Neil is well respected within non-league football and his enthusiasm for the role really shone through. The club is reaching an important stage with its development of the youth structure and we are looking forward to seeing further progression as our Kent Youth sides push on towards men’s football. The key link between the youth setup and the 1st team is the Reserve section and we are delighted that Imran Englefield and Chris Gardner will continue their management of the Reserves who had a great season in 2019/20 with a number of players having already featured in the 1st team.”
“Whilst we still do not know when football will resume, we are pleased to have finalised the management structure so that preparations can begin to ensure we have a settled squad raring to go when we finally get the green light to play again.”