If we're not careful we may go the way of other clubs who push too early, warns Bridon Ropes chair

BRIDON ROPES chairman Clive Smith says he is searching for a new young management team that would like to showcase their talents at the club.

The Charlton-based outfit appointed Daniel Frost as their manager after Ben Kotey stepped down from the role on 5 February.

When probed why Kotey stepped down, the club issued a brief statement on their twitter account at the time, saying: “Club finances apparently.  Trying to get the players’ to pay £10 a game again.

“The players’ were told at the beginning of the season all they had to pay was a £50 signing on fee.”

Frost took charge for the rest of the season and finished in eighth-place in the Kent Invicta League table with 40 points from 28 games.

The club also won the London Senior Trophy for the first time with a 2-1 win over Corinthian-Casuals at Thamesmead Town’s Bayliss Avenue on 12 April, courtesy of goals from Gary Phillimore (87 minutes) and striker Brady Powell at the end of the first period of extra-time.

“Danny Frost and his team that he brought in would assist until the end of the season and see how they felt at the end of the season,” said Mr Smith.

“We’ve been keen to keep them.  I think Danny has secured a position of first team coach at Cray Valley (who have appointed Paul Gross as their new manager).

“I think he prefers to be coaching rather than managing. He’s got a big home life I think, he’s got a new kid, moving house.

“Those kind of things (coaching) suit him at the moment rather than the full on management situation that we’ve got at Bridon.

“He’s moving on, probably taking our goalkeeping coach with him.

“He gave us quite a bit of notice. We haven’t really put it out there yet, so we knew he was going.

“I think he’s done well for us. He got us to the Final and we won the Cup so I was quite pleased with that and I think he is as well.

“I also think it’s a relief that he can move on from full-on management to coaching, which is what he wants to do.

“He’s brought in a lot of youngsters and played a lot of youngsters from our under 21s, which has really been good for him and them as well.

“It’s an eye-opener as well to see if they can perform in a situation that we’re asking them to do.

“We’re having our presentation soon – Danny is going to be there.

“It’s been a nice amicable kind of departure, which is how it should be in football.  I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad one at our club that’s gone sour so that’s nice.

The club are looking to appoint a new manager by the end of the month and applicants should contact the chairman on 07795 966 110.

“I think we now need to focus on a manager and coaching team who want to focus on young players,” said Mr Smith. 

“We know that’s the way forward. We know that we can have experience in our team and they are available.

“If you look at teams like Fleet Leisure and Sutton Athletic they’ve got good, young technical players who have the ability to take them forward and that’s where we need to be.

“I’m sure those people are out there and they want to test themselves. We’d like someone not too long in the tooth. We’re looking for a young, decent qualified UEFA B coach who wants to take us for a couple of years.

“The journey for him will be the same for us. It’s always going to be like that. We never want a man for life – and I’m sure a man doesn’t want us for life.

“Everyone’s using it as a vehicle to go their own way in football, same as we want someone to come along to us and push on and we’ll be happy with that as well.

Football Association chairman Greg Dyke should sit up and take notice that clubs in step six – the Kent Invicta League – still ask their players to pay subs to keep their clubs alive.

Dyke has been criticised in recent days with his plans to form a new division – League 3 – which will have B teams of elite Premier League clubs along with Conference clubs.

Such plans will kill our beloved non-league football clubs, which are the heartbeat of our local communities and the game itself.

More investment must come down to clubs that ply their trade below the Premier and Football League’s but the Bridon Ropes chairman reveals the club is on the brink of financial insecurity.

When asked whether the Ropes will continue to ask their players to pay to earn the right to wear the blue shirt next season, the chairman replied: “That’s right, yes, I think it will, without a doubt.

“Obviously on a personal level I think Kent Invicta Step Six is a really difficult grounding for that kind of financial investment.

“We’re on the cusp of paying players and not playing players and still charging financially so the club can succeed.

“We’ve been going since 1935 – if we’re not careful we may go the way of other clubs where they push too far too early.

“We’ve attracted good players this season with that system in place.  Last season we didn’t charge subs and it caused certain financial instability, we’re not going to go down that road.

“If though, however, someone can bring something to us, the first thing we won’t do will not charge players to pay football, that’s the priority for us.  That’s where we’ll be next year.”

The Bridon Ropes chairman is keen to extend the longest groundshare agreement in Kent football from this level up.

“Do you know we’ve been at Meridian since about 1980?  We’re comfortable there. We feel it’s where we belong. It’s in Charlton, which is where our factory team British Ropes came from so geographically and historically we are what we are and where we are.

“We’d like to play at Meridian for the foreseeable future.”

Mr Smith revealed that the ground at the Meridian Sports & Social Club at Charlton Park Lane will meet ground grading criteria for Step Six football soon.

Clubs have until the end of next season to meet ground grading criteria or they may face relegation.

“The development is happening close season so that the ground grading aspect will be taken care off,” he said.

“We may be able to enter the FA Vase and FA Cup in the next year or two so that’s a catch and pull for coaches and players.

“We want to stay at Meridian next season. Socially it’s a good place to be as well.

“The downside of it is we don’t own it, it’s not ours. We do work well with Meridian Sports and Social. We have a good relationship with them.”

When asked about the improvements, Mr Smith said: “Floodlights, enclosed ground, turnstiles and a 100 seater spectator stand so that should be done in the close season.  All the planning permissions are in so that should be up in the close season, probably starting next week if I’m not wrong.”

Meanwhile, League officials hinted yesterday that Crowborough Athletic, Croydon and Lingfield may switch across to join the Southern Counties East Football League next season.

The League lost Whyteleafe – the first side from Surrey to win the league – to the Ryman League and bottom side Woodstock Sports are expected to earn a reprieve.

Erith & Belvedere will return to the league after an ill-fated inaugural campaign in the Ryman League, where they finished bottom of the Division One North.

Sheppey & Sheerness United – who lost the Haart of Kent County League Premier Division title to Metrogas – after their 3-0 away defeat to The Gas yesterday – are expected to earn promotion to the Kent Invicta League next season after finishing runners-up.

APM Contrast, who also applied, look to miss out, however, based on their fifth-placed position.

Their manager Kris Browning said: “They should put two up really because both teams would make the Kent Invicta League better! Never mind, we’ll go again next season!”

www.kentishfootball.co.uk  dedicates this article to the 56 football fans that tragically lost their lives in the Bradford City fire at Valley Parade 29 years’ ago today. 

May our thoughts go to them and their families on this awful anniversary and ask our readers to take a minute to pause in silence to pay our own tribute to the football fans that went to a supposed title winning party against Lincoln City but sadly didn’t return home.