As part of the team helping to shape the club behind the scenes, our committee, members, fans and players should all be reassured that I wouldn’t have made this decision without having a clear plan of what would happen next, and once we make some further announcements you will see that this decision is very much in line with our ambitions for the team on the pitch, and our ambitions off it too, which ultimately is to return this club to the premier club in Bristol outside of our professional teams.

Once further announcements have been made I would like all our energy and support to focus on our new manager and the players, but before doing so I would like to take one last opportunity to reflect on my time as manager.

As most of you will know I’m not a huge fan of social media and therefore I have tended to keep my thoughts and opinions ‘in-house’, but for those who know me well will know that whilst I saw this role as an absolute privilege, it was never on my radar to manage a team at this level....I came in more to steady the ship rather than being the long term manager, and whilst I have enjoyed elements of it, I have to say that it is a full time job on top of my proper full time job, which is running a growing business I set up in 2020. The demands of managing Mangotsfield United (or indeed any team in the non-league pyramid) never gets easier, but this balanced with my business and family life means that managing Mangotsfield could never be a long term role for me, and having been involved in football either as a player, coach or manager every season for 45 consecutive years (23 in a coaching/management capacity) I can honestly say that I am due a rest from the day to day rigors!

On this point I admire and respect all the managers who operate within the non-league pyramid. Unless you’ve carried out the role nobody will ever know how much hard work goes into it and how all-consuming it can be, and most do it, as I have, on a voluntary basis. It really is a demanding job and one that I think deserves respect, and dare I say it, loyalty, which seems to be in shorter supply nowadays.

This has been my third tenure as manager having stepped in when the club needed me, and on the last two occasions when performances on the pitch haven’t met our expectations. Since my most recent appointment in December 2022 which has spanned 4 seasons, I am extremely proud of the progress we’ve made, bringing silverware to the club for the first time in 10 years by winning one of the league cups, followed by a further GFA cup win the following season and then progression into the playoffs last season.

For the reasons already highlighted I initially considered stepping down at the end of last season, but because we had built a squad that almost achieved our goal of promotion I felt that maintaining the consistency of management and coaches with the current squad, and adding some additional signings, would get us over the line this season, and of course my coaches and I wanted to see a job through to promotion and we aimed to achieve just that.

Unfortunately, our progress this season has been decimated by unexpected injuries, many of which are long term to key players, and in some games we have competed with 13 first team players unavailable, in fact I can’t think of many games where we have had less than 8 first team players missing. This has been incredibly disappointing and frustrating as you plan for injuries, but this has been freakish and with regular availability I am absolutely certain that we would be competing at the top of the league and would have finished the job of gaining promotion this season. As things stand we have lost 7 goalkeepers and 36 outfield players this season which shows how injuries have affected us, and the high rotation is the main reason for our lack of consistency and current league position, however on the bright side I consider myself very lucky that we had such a big squad to start with, and I have been able to bring in some further excellent signings to keep us not too far away from the playoff positions and in the quarter finals of both the league and GFA cup.

Taking into consideration that I would be finishing at the end of this season I made it clear to the club recently that if the right manager became available we should make the change now rather than waiting until the end of the season, as a change now might just give us the extra impetus we need and maybe we could still force our way into playoff contention and win some silverware too. I believe there is still a lot to play for this season and I believe we have made the right choice in manager for the benefit of both the short term and long-term ambitions of the team.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the coaches that have helped me along the way, but my biggest thanks will go to Matt Curry, my assistant manager and coach, who has been an absolute rock, and in my opinion one of the best coaches around. He is a massive support and one of the most solid people you could meet. I would also like to thank Nic Mann who I persuaded out of coaching semi-retirement, and as a coach he has been a breath of fresh air around the club and with the players too. He is one of the most committed and loyal people I know and I really appreciate his help. I must also single out
our current U18 Manager Matt Doe who has assisted with the first team and has been invaluable in coaching and our player pathway. All three are true friends and true Mangos and I am pleased to say that like me these guys will remain at the club in some capacity.

I would also like to thank John Rooster House who has been a constant help and sounding board for me, but as I’m remaining in the club no doubt we will be swapping stories and analysing games hopefully for many more years to come. Also Nikos Arvanitis, the Greek God, who has to be the busiest physio in Bristol right now. He’s been the bearer of bad news to me on a weekly basis and that’s been a source of frustration, but I really do appreciate all his hard work. With Nikos’ help hopefully we will start to see some of our injured players back on the pitch very soon.

I would also like to thank Steve and Pete Brown for all their support and continued hard work behind the scenes, Shaun Lecrass for his support and his work with the programmes, and of course our Committee and Wednesday Club. Without these brilliant people the club just wouldn’t operate. Our loyal supporters also deserve my thanks. They have been incredible with me and now I will stand with them and get behind our new manager as we look forward to future success on the pitch.

And last but by no means least I would like to thank all the players who have played for me over my time at the club, especially during my most recent spell in charge. We have had some great times together and I think you all for being part of my football journey.

My role will now revert back to my original pre-management role which is more of a business role as well as future developments of our facilities at Cossham Street and Blackhorse Road, as well as Player Development/Pathway, and of course I will be there to support the manager and our players in any way I can.

I’ll see you all soon and thanks again.

Up the Field!

Glyn