Assistant-manager Dan Crane and coach Dave McDermott were put in caretaker charge of the team but Crane has now followed Hurren out of The Moat ground door.

Club chairman Mark Alflat told https://www.gresleyfc.com: “The effort and commitment from Gavin is appreciated and the club wishes to place on record its thanks to Gavin for his short time with the club. The Board have a scheduled meeting at the end of next week and we will review the managerial position then.”

Director of football Gary Norton said: “We are sad to see Gavin step down from the role of first team manager of the club. After taking over at a difficult time last season he wasn’t quite able to keep us in the Northern Premier League but went into this pre-season with our full support and full of excitement and hope for the season ahead. Unfortunately, our start to the season has been a very challenging one for us results wise and he called me this morning to inform us of his intentions and reasons behind his decision to step down.”

Hurren added: “Further to my discussion with Gary Norton I have decided to step down as manager of Gresley FC. The club have been brilliant since giving me the opportunity to manage here and the support they have provided has been amazing. However due to a number of reasons I have made the difficult decision to step down. May I take this opportunity to say that I have enjoyed my time at Gresley FC and wish everyone associated with the club all the success for the future”.