Davies first took charge of the side during the 2017/18 season, having left Fairford Town following a hugely successful stint in charge of them which he emulated here at Barrington Park.

Having gained promotion from the Hellenic League Division One West in an exciting first campaign, he went on to progress in the Hellenic Premier and, despite a slow start to life at the new and higher level, he managed to turn things round in spectacular fashion and steered his side to a fifth-place finish – the highest end of season placement in the club's entire history.

“Gareth has provided the club with its most successful three-year period in recent memory and we’ll forever be in gratitude for his efforts,” club chairman Matt Hirst told http://www.shrivenhamfc.co.uk. “I think he probably decided he needed a break from the game during last season if I’m being honest, so although I’m disappointed with the decision, it didn’t come as a total surprise.

“We had a number of games last year where assistant manager Chris Robinson took charge with former development manager Steve Hendry which kept the continuity and enabled the side to continue pushing at the right end of the table, but we held a meeting recently to discuss where he was at so as we could start looking towards this coming season, and he informed us that he was stepping away so as he could have a break from the game.”

Things had been on target to improve even further before last season came to an abrupt conclusion due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the side in fourth place in the standings. However, the search for a new manager will now need to get underway as the club continue to build the platform needed to launch a promotional bid to the next level of the game.

Concluding, the chairman said: “I can’t say that I’m not disappointed by the decision, because we brought Gareth in to make us competitive and he’s certainly achieved that target.

“He’s been brilliant for us. When he took over, he saw the side lose 4-1 at Reading YMCA in the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy in his opening fixture in charge and he’s leaving us in 4th place in a higher division. His record speaks for itself.

“It’s with great reluctance that I have had to accept his decision but I respect it and we’ll have to move on and start looking at who we can bring in to begin the next chapter in this club’s history.”

Davies took charge for 110 fixtures during his three-season reign at the club, winning 57, drawing 14 and losing 40 games and leaded the side to one promotion as well as a club record finish before the 2019/20 campaign was ended early.