5thdec03

Angels must find sponsor to keep management trio
Alan Walker, Lloyd Hume and Peter Overton, the managerial team who have steered Tonbridge Angels into a thirteen-point lead at the top of the Dr Martens League Eastern Division, have pledged to see through the month of December without wages after a recent management meeting.

Chairman Paul Dainty and his board now have until the New Year to announce a new sponsor following the end of their current deal with Brewers.

Walker will remain as manager until the end of December when he will decide whether he will finish the job of trying to gain promotion.

Walker was set to leave the club after their failure to find a major sponsor gave them no option other than to cut the wage bill.

Walker said it before the meeting that it "would take a miracle" for him to remain at the club. But his, and the board's determination to continue their success allowed them to reach a compromise.

Walker added: "The board have made strenuous efforts to secure the future of the club and we decided that we had to make a compromise.

"Therefore, as a gesture of goodwill, the three of us will work for nothing this month, on the basis that the rest of the squad are paid in full.

"There is a limit to how long I will continue with no money, however", he added.

Many of the players in Walker's current squad have joined from other clubs out of loyalty to their boss, and would be as quick to follow him through the exit door, something that Walker considered when making his decision.

"I didn't want to walk away in a fit of pique because the probability is that the vast majority of the squad would have gone too", he said.

"My job was to build a team and I have, and it would have been a real shame to throw away all that hard work."

In the meantime, Walker is happy to concentrate on matters on the pitch. 
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