We don't have the right infrastructure in place for Ryman football, says Sevenoaks chief - EXCLUSIVE

SEVENOAKS TOWN have promoted their reserve team manager Simon Jones to the position of first-team boss, writes Stephen McCartney.

Jones, who arrived at Greatness Park at the beginning of the season to manage the reserve side, replaces Bob Pittaway and Derek Moore who quit the club following the 6-0 home defeat to Faversham Town on Saturday.

The former Dartford coaches cited that the club failed to back them in their bid to bring Ryman League football to Greatness Park.

Bromley resident Jones, a managing director of a company that employees 9,000 people in 60 locations across the UK, has a Kent County League managerial background, having spent last season at Cray Wanderers/New Bromleians - a side that play three divisions lower than Sevenoaks Town.

But the former Dulwich Hamlet player has led Sevenoaks’ reserve side into second place in the Kent League Division One table this season after 17 games with a record of 8 wins and 6 draws - 9 points behind champions-elect Thamesmead Town.

And Graham Logsdon, the club’s general manager, says Jones has been given until the end of the season - eight games - to prove that he’s the right man for the job.

“The reserve team manager will be taking over temporarily then we’ll be looking at it again at the end of the season, that’s what the board have suggested and that’s what’s going to happen,” Logsdon said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“Because of what happened on Saturday we had to decide what to do and it was the natural thing that the reserve team manager would have to take the reigns.”

Speaking about the resignations of both Pittaway and Moore after two years at the helm, Logsdon said: “They asked to see (chairman) Tony Smart and myself afterwards and they offered their resignation.

“They’ve taken the team as far as they could and they didn’t think, as I remember, they weren’t getting a response from the players they’d like and it was the correct decision to meet, which is probably right.

“It’s not a nice thing. They’ve been there for a while now and they had something that they didn’t have before.”

But Logsdon explained why the club can’t offer the exiting pair Ryman League football at Greatness Park.

“The problem with it is it’s all nice, and I would be first in the line to say we want to get into the Ryman League, but people have to look at the finance,” he said.

“It’s not a cheap move to make as we would have to make improvements to the ground. Whilst we’re financially stable you have to get the infrastructure in place first.”

“I accept those views (from Pittaway) but it’s not something that we haven’t considered because you always have to look forward.

“But the financial implications have to be taken aboard and addition to that you have to be able to win the League first.

“It’s a difficult scenario really, if the first team, as the flagship of the club, done consistency well and pushing for promotion that decision would have to be made sooner rather than later.

“But we know we still have to spend a sum of money to upgrade the ground still.”

Logsdon revealed that the club haven’t discussed promotion with Ryman League top brass but he has an idea on what needs to be done to meet criteria for that level of football.

“Let’s put it this way, we haven’t done a costing on the Ryman League,” he said.

“I do know there’s so many improvements to make to the ground but at a considerable cost.

“We have to enclose the ground first, which isn’t cheap, that’s part of the FA ground grading now. We have to upgrade the changing rooms and increase the seating capacity, that’s takes money.

“But we’re on the verge of getting our chartered standard development club status and on that basis when we get that, it’s a question of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s and once that’s been done we’ll probably be able to secure extra funding from the Foundation.”

Logsdon admitted the players currently at the club aren’t good enough to mount a serious bid towards clinching the Kent League title.

He said: “I look upon it as a big step for a club like ours to make, from Kent League to Ryman, financially and the playing quality.

“I don’t feel that we have the quality of players at the moment to take the step that maybe due to fairness to Bob and Del due to the financial budget that they were given.

“Unfortunately to get the better quality players you have to be able to spend a considerable amount of money on wages. Those who spend the money are the clubs that have gone up.”

With average crowds of 61 - the fifth lowest supported club in the Kent League - Logsdon believes that the club doesn’t have the support to play at the higher level of football.

“Sponsorship in the economic climate is not easy (but) we’re more lucky than some as we do have two good sponsors who give us regular income but Sevenoaks is not a football town and we struggle with gates,” he said.

“That I think is a dual factor because as we’re not up there in the top three or four and add to the fact that it’s not a football town that adds to our problems. If we were up there the gates would improve.”

Luckily for Jones, he can asses the players’ that he has available to him as Sevenoaks’ next game isn’t until Easter Saturday, for the visit of Ryman chasing club, Thamesmead Town.

Thamesmead Town have spent £10,000 in order to get their Bayliss Avenue ground to pass a Ryman League inspection at the end of this month.

“It’s fortunate as the first team don’t have a fixture this week and the reserves don’t have a game the following week,” said Logsdon.

“This guy has come in fresh faced with a squad and thanks to the withdrawal of Bromley from Kent League Division One, we’ve kept our position.

“Our reserves are second in the league so they’ve done well and they’re a very good side.

“Simon comes from a County League background, he’s an FA qualified coach. He’s sifted through a lot of players but he has a lot of contacts in the game.

“A lot of players have come through him and are playing Kent League football at the moment.

“He’s got a very important job in business and he’s very keen to take the (first-team) job on. He’s very tactically aware and he likes to play football. Anybody whose seen our young reserve this year would confirm that.

“We’ve obviously given the appointment to him until the end of the season, it’s the only thing we can do.

“We’re more than happy for him to take the reigns, he’s happy to take the task on and with keeping some of the first team players he will pull together a side that will show well.”

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