I just felt at this time of my career that Sevenoaks Town was more of a challenge - Darren Anslow

DARREN ANSLOW has explained why he has done a U-turn on Kent Invicta League side Erith & Dartford Town – to be unveiled as the new manager of Kent League Sevenoaks Town yesterday, writes Stephen McCartney.


Eltham resident Anslow, 40, who keeps his full-time job as manager of the Cray Wanderers Academy, left his reserve team manager’s role at the Ryman Premier League club to take charge of Erith & Dartford Town’s first team, only to decide that life at Greatness Park would be a better career move.

Last season Anslow led Cray Wanderers’ second string to the Kent League Division One title, the Blue3 Reserve Division Cup and lost the Kent Intermediate Cup Final to Deal Town on penalties in his first season.

“It’s a bit of a long story”, said the former Erith & Belvedere, Crockenhill, Rainham Town, Fisher Athletic and Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club goalkeeper, who gave up playing in 2006 to concentrate on coaching, where he holds a UEFA B licence and is awaiting the final assessment for his A licence, which is due in pre-season.

“Obviously I was at Cray last season and we had quite a successful season.  I spoke to a number of clubs and I had a chat with Roy (Macneil, the chairman) at Erith & Dartford Town and we talked about the possibility of working together.

“I had some very good players last year, who shouldn’t be playing at reserve level and should be playing higher, but we were waiting for the right job to come along.

“We spoke to Erith & Dartford Town but I thought at the time for me personally, with the way I worked and the players I had, Sevenoaks would give me the better opportunity.”

Anslow added: “No disrespect to Step Six (the Kent Invicta League), it looks like it’s going to be a strong league with some decent sides, but I felt a better challenge for us would be Step 5 (the Kent League).

“It will be a great challenge, hopefully for the boys we’ve got and the boys at Sevenoaks.”

Anslow is the third manager at Sevenoaks Town is as many years.

Simon Jones, who guided the club to their highest ever finish in the Kent League (sixth) and to the Final of the Kent League Cup, although he did pump money into the club.

And last season, Keith Levett, who also ran the Welling United Academy, made vast changes to team personnel, often blooding in Welling’s teenagers, although Sevenoaks finished in a creditable seventh place, before Levett left to become Chatham Town’s assistant manager in Ryman League Division One North last month.

Anslow looks set to give Cray Wanderers’ youngsters their big chance in the Kent League next season.

“We’ll have a meeting with Quinny and Keith and I’ll speak to them about the boys they had last year and we’ll invite them back to pre-season and with the players that I’ve got (from Cray Wanderers) it should be a healthy pre-season.  They will all be invited to pre-season, all of them.

“What’s made me excited? Everything’s a new challenge. It’s a new challenge for us.  Hopefully we can prove we can do it at another level.

Cray Wanderers, like many other Kent clubs, have pulled their reserve sides out of the Kent League, due to the lack of fixtures and the costs of running the team.

Anslow said: “A lot of people don’t take reserve football seriously.”

But he insisted he still has a healthy relationship with Gary Hillman and Ian Jenkins, the chairman and first team manager at Cray Wanderers.

Anslow said: “I’ve got a lot of time for Cray and in all honesty Jenko and Gary have been fantastic for me.  They were brilliant with us last year, letting us build a side.

“Gary knew I wasn’t going to carry on next year.  Financially it probably makes sense a lot now (pulling the reserve side out of the Kent League). 

“My job during the day is to get players’ who are good enough to step-up for Cray’s first team and outside of my employment I’m 100% dedicated to Sevenoaks.”

Anslow is relishing the opportunity to carry on with the work put in by the club’s previous two managers – but insists he will be at Greatness Park a little bit longer than Jones and Levett.

“I think they’ve done really well,” he said.  “I checked up, like you do when you take a job, the year before they finished sixth and made a Cup Final and last year they finished seventh.

“To be fair to Keith and Quinny, they took it on in mid-June, if I remember rightly.  It’s not like we’re not stepping into a club that’s finished at the bottom half of the league. 

“Over the last couple of season’s they’ve been relatively successful, so it’s a challenge.”

He added: “Sevenoaks are ambitious, they want to progress and I want to progress and when I speak to them this year does feel like the right thing at the right time and hopefully we can move together.

“Hopefully it will be for a long time.”

But Anslow revealed whoever does lead Erith & Dartford Town into senior football, will be working for an ambitious football club.

“Whoever goes to Erith & Dartford Town, it’s a decent set-up, they’re building a decent set-up there and I don’t wish them any harm and I really hope they do well,” he said.

“They really want to go for it and they’re ambitious and I generally wish them success.

“I just felt, at this time of my career, with some of the players I’ve got with me, I just felt Step 5 (the Kent League) for us was more of a challenge.

“Don’t get me wrong, Step Six will be a challenge, especially when there’s only one promotion place in that League.

“Hollands & Blair will be strong, Ashford United will be strong, you’ve got Bearsted who will be decent.  Cray Valley will be strong and Lydd will surprise a few people.

“It’s a hell of a League to get out of with one promotion place.  I would have fancied that Step Six but with one promotion place, you can’t afford any slip ups.”

A club statement, which was published on the club’s website www.sevenoakstownfc.org yesterday said, “With the departure of Keith Levett, the post was never officially advertised, but applications arrived following the club statement on the website and a meeting was held where a shortlist was drawn up, with those applicants being asked to attend interviews.  These were held late last week, after which the club made their decision to appoint Mr Anslow.”

Visit Sevenoaks Town’s website: www.sevenoakstownfc.org