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Bird Quits K's | ||||||||||||
Sunday 05 June 22 I 16:55:52 | ||||||||||||
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Bird joined K’s in May 2019 after a successful tenure as manager of Merstham.
In
his first season, he led the club to their best run in the Emirates FA Cup in
twenty years as Kingstonian reached the Second Round.
This
run included several fabulous victories, including 3-2 away to Dartford and
then 4-0 at Macclesfield Town, in which Kingstonian managed the highest scoring
win by a non-League club at the ground of a Football League club since 1973.
The
occasion of the Second Round was marked by the BBC when `Football Focus` was
broadcast live at King George's Field before the match with AFC Fylde.
That
season also saw an excellent run in the Buildbase FA Trophy, which included a
fine victory over Woking.
In
the season just finished, Bird enjoyed another exciting FA Trophy run as well
as taking the club to the Surrey Senior Cup Final last month, losing on
penalties to eventual Vanarama National League South play-off champions Dorking
Wanderers.
Bird
told https://www.kingstonian.com: “It
is with both sadness and great reluctance that I announce my decision to leave
Kingstonian.
“Since
the cup final, I have been in a number of lengthy discussions with the club
regarding next season. Regretfully, although both the Board of Directors and I
have worked long and hard to find solutions, our ideas are just too far apart
to reach agreement.
“I
would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for this hugely enjoyable
period in my career. The directors have been a pleasure to work with, while the
willing volunteers are a credit to the club. I have also been extremely
fortunate to be surrounded by a loyal, dedicated and talented management team.
My thanks to each and every one of you.
“I
would like to reserve a special thank you all of the Kingstonian players. Not
only the players from last season but to all of the players who have
represented Kingstonian in my three years here.
“Most
of all though, I would like to reserve a special message for the supporters.
More than any other club I have managed during my twenty four-year career, this
club is about the fans. Since I arrived in 2019, the support has been
overwhelming. No one deserves success more than the Kingstonian faithful. I
sincerely hope Kingstonian achieve the success they all deserve, and dreams of
a new ground are realised. We’ve made some great memories together, memories I
will cherish. Equally, the support during the difficult period we experienced
in February and March was truly unbelievable. Thank you to a very special group
of people.
“I
would like to stress that I am not leaving to manage to another club. I'm
simply moving on as myself and the Board see things differently. It's nothing
more than a football decision from both myself and the club. As disappointing
as it is, it’s part of the game and there are no hard feelings.
“Despite
this, I have no doubt Kingstonian have plenty to look forward to. Having just
achieved a memorable cup double, Nigel James has some exciting prospects coming
through the ranks. The new manager will have great people to work alongside
with a passionate, loyal fan-base to inspire the team.
“For
me, it's been a challenging few months and it's time to take a complete break.
I'm sure I will soon be on the terraces at Imperial Fields”. |
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Copyright Non League Today. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to the Non League Today website as the source and a link back to the Non League Today website. | ||||||||||||
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