Ashford has been involved in non-League football from Step 5 to Step 2 for fifteen years.

In the role of manager or assistant manager, Ashford has worked at clubs such as Billericay Town, Stansted, Bowers & Pitsea, Heybridge Swifts and Witham Town, amongst others.

He is already familiar to Stortford as he was with the club for a couple of seasons under Rod Stringer, managing the under-23 development team who were league champions in their first season under him, whilst also supporting the first team.

Ashford has worked his way through the FA’s coaching badges, obtaining his UEFA A licence in April 2017.

He aims to undertake his UEFA Pro Licence in the near future as he continues to strive for personal development and to aid helping players continuous improvement.

Smith told https://www.bsfc.co.uk: “It’s great that Mark has committed himself to the club for the forthcoming season and hopefully for the long-term. I look forward to working with him and I think the future of the club is good. Luke Callander and I hope goalkeeping coach Mark North and physiotherapist Colin Taylor will stay and be part of the team”.