St Cuthbert Wanderers boss Josh Gardner has quit after a year in charge.
Last night’s game against Wigtown and Bladnoch was the Kirkcudbright side’s final game of a season which will see them finish seventh in the Utility Hut South of Scotland League.
And it was also the last game for Gardner, who is standing down due to work and travel issues.
He said: “My personal circumstances have changed around work. It’s a bit of a jaunt for me as I stay in Airdrie so it’s 98 miles just for training, then you’ve going all around the South of Scotland with the games.
“I need to be closer to home and I think it would be good for the club to appoint a local manager and have more of a local team to attach the local community to it a wee bit more.
“We’ve a high contingency of central belt players and that’s probably not sustainable. We might only get these guys for one season, two seasons max, then the travel starts to take its toll.
“When I thought about the pros and cons, I felt the club would be better going down more of a local route and getting closer to the community.
“The committee are doing great things, they have the wee bar and have good ideas, and to get the most out of those ideas they need to capture the community and I don’t think that would happen with me there.
“It wasn’t an easy decision because Mick and Tracey McGarrie at Saints are brilliant. I’m blown away with how they treat you and how they do stuff for you, they’re just good people and I’d love nothing more than to watch them from afar and see them do well again. I hope they’re successful in the future.”
Last season, Saints won the South of Scotland League before losing out in the Lowland League promotion play-offs.
Boss Jordan Williamson then left for Dalbeattie Star with a number of players also departing, leaving Gardner with a rebuilding job on his hands.
He said: “Although we’ve not been successful in terms of trophies or the league form, the main challenge for any manager coming in would have been getting the team on the park.
“We only retained one player, the captain John Renwick. I had ambitions to come in and emulate what Jordan did but we could only train one night a league and a turnover of 22 plus players on less training time was never a recipe for success.
“I’m proud of the fact we managed to get 18 or 19 players from the central belt to come down here and play for us all season.
“It’s a huge commitment, they leave at quarter past five when they’ve just finished work and get changed in their cars on the way down.
“The consensus is they’re paid a fortune but they aren’t getting paid – they’re here because they’re trying to make their way in the game.
“There have been games where we’ve run the top teams close but these teams are just a bit more experienced, train a bit more, have been together longer.
“It’s been an inconsistent season but I’m proud of the players and coaching staff for seeing it through.”
