A statement on https://www.billericaytownfc.co.uk reads: “As a board, we have already said that we didn’t want to be relegated and take full responsibility for it happening. We know that our next managerial appointment has to be right. So, we have listened to people from across our fan base as well as people both within, and external, to the club. More than anything though, we have thought about the mistakes made and what we all want going forwards.

“We want to get that connection back throughout the club so that we are all working together again. We want a men’s first team that drives that and in whom we can all be proud. To have a team of players who want to be at the club and will go through walls for the team and the fans. Going down is awful but it also represents an opportunity to reset and put the right things in place to ensure that we don’t go through this again and we have the club that we all want to see.

“We have so much that is good within BTFC. The women’s team and pathway is working, the community element through walking football and our disability team and charity work. We also have a strong Colts set-up – a pathway that this season has produced league and cup success. For our men’s first team to be leading this then it needs to take the best of the talent that we are bringing through and mix it successfully with experienced players who are already here and those that we can bring in who want to buy in to what we want to achieve as a club.

“It would be easy to appoint someone who had already been successful at this level with other clubs. It obviously doesn’t necessarily mean that they could do it with us but it would be a safe and easily explained decision. The trouble with that is that a new manager, particularly in the current environment, would feel under immediate pressure to produce instant results. They would bring in their own players who they trust, and we would start the whole process again and with no sustainable strategy for the future.

“With that in mind, we were pleasantly surprised that, in the midst of the normal tsunami of applicants, Danny Brown throw his hat in to the ring. We’ve talked to Danny at length.

“Like us, he wants to re-build this team and its relationship with fans and the rest of the club. He is a brutally honest individual who has managed to get some great results, against the odds, each time he’s stepped in as our interim manager. He has fantastic knowledge of the talent coming through, the respect of players who want to stay and the contacts within the game to find ‘gems’ and loans to add to the group. More than anything though, he knows our club and aims, he has the work ethic and coaching ability to ensure that the team are fit and prepared for every game. Danny will continue to be brutally honest in his assessment and dealing with everyone in the club. That includes holding us, as a board, to account. So it is with pride that we announce that Danny Brown has been appointed as Billericay Town’s first team manager. Danny will be looking to build sustainability, but we will give him the budget and backing to have a real crack at next season as well.

“Danny will be identifying his staff over coming weeks but will initially be joined by Lawrie Wilson (as First team Asst Manager and / Manager of the Under 23’s) and Ash Goss (First team coach). Discussions are also ongoing with some of the current squad as well as with new players that Danny wants to add into the group. We will announce the first batch of these over the next few days.

“We know that everyone has their view on who the manager should be and that this decision (whoever we had announced) will inevitably draw criticism. There will also be several theories about why we’ve made it. However, we would ask the Billericay Town family to help Danny and ourselves rebuild. We all want the same thing here… to enjoy our Saturdays again and be proud of the team. To get that connection back and feel we are united as a club and going in the right direction again”.