Returning to the Seasiders where he played, Boardley is joined by another former Seasider in Andy Crump as his assistant.

Boardley started his career as a trainee at Ipswich Town before moving to Torquay United in 2004.

He made 14 appearances for the Gulls under manager Leroy Rosenior in 2004/05 before a short spell back in East Anglia with Long Melford.

It wasn’t long before Boardley was snapped up by Leiston, where he spent 12 years as a player with a short spell away from the club at AFC Sudbury in 2007/08.

He joined the Seasiders in 2017 and retired from playing football at the end of October 2018 and he returned to Leiston as manager shortly afterwards, guiding them to retaining the Suffolk Premier Cup in May.

But he quit in September after a difficult summer when budget changes saw a number of player comings and goings.