Former Bristol Rovers director of football Tommy Widdrington will start work as the new manager of National League side Aldershot Town today, 48 hours after his shock departure from Kings Lynn, swapping a promotion race for a relegation battle.
Widdrington had guided the Linnets to second place in National League North, with the top side earning automatic promotion, and the next six entering the play-offs, but an hour after their 1-0 win over Chorley it was confirmed he had left The Walks to take a new job elsewhere, despite having more than a year to run on his contract.
Kings Lynn detailed how there had been no official approach for the 51-year-old but on Sunday Aldershot revealed they had removed manager Ross McNeilly from his position and Widdrington would take training from Monday.
The Shots are 19th in the National League and only five points from safety with six games of the season remaining. Widdrington took the Kings Lynn job in December 2021 - a week after leaving Rovers - suffering relegation in 2021/22 but looked in a strong position to return them to the fifth tier at the first time of asking.
He leaves behind a squad which features former Rovers midfielders Josh Barrett, Cam Hargreaves, Zain Walker and his son Theo Widdrington.
"Aldershot Town Football Club can confirm that Ross McNeilly has been relieved of his temporary duties as first-team manager and will return to his former role of Academy manager," a statement read. "We’d like to thank Ross for all his efforts whilst involved in first-team affairs."
Widdrington first joined Rovers as head of recruitment in 2018 working alongside Darrell Clarke before he was elevated to the position of director of football when Ben Garner was in charge, with many fans blaming the duo’s recruitment in the summer of 2020 - conducted with a need to dramatically cut the wage bill and reduce the average age of the squad - as the prime reason why the Gas were relegated the following year with Joey Barton in charge.
Widdrington also twice briefly served as caretaker manager before Paul Tisdale's and then Barton’s appointment in February 2021 and although he remained in north Bristol for nine months, it was an arrangement that was destined to fail as the new boss wanted his own staff and a more hands-on role regarding recruitment. Indeed, as Widdrington’s days at the Mem came to an end, Barton was openly admitting the pair hadn’t spoken for months.
“With just six games left, we felt we needed to make a change and when notified of Tommy’s resignation, wanted to act quickly to secure the man that we believe can help us with the final push towards mathematical safety,” said Aldershot chairman Shahid Azeem. "Welcome to the Shots, Tommy."
SIGN UP: To receive our free Rovers newsletter, bringing you the latest from the Mem
READ NEXT:
