Erith & Dartford Town tie manager Gary Abbott down to a three-year contract

ERITH & DARTFORD TOWN announced yesterday that they have agreed a three-year contract with their newly appointed first team manager Gary Abbott, writes Stephen McCartney.


The club are one of sixteen founder members of the Kent Invicta League – the new Step Six operating here in Kent – and managers in this league and the league above, at Kent League level, tend to work on non-contracted terms and mainly without a playing budget.

But yesterday’s news signals the intent that the Crayford based club want to make their stay in the Kent Invicta League a short one.

During his playing career, Abbott was regarded as one of the most prolific non-league strikers ever, having scored 557 goals in 1,270 appearances.

The highlights of this being his 45 goals in one Conference season with Aldershot Town and scoring five goals for an FA XI.

He has three England Semi-Professional Caps and cost over £100,000 in combined transfer fees, the most being £40,000 paid by Enfield in 1989.

Abbott, who has also played for Welling United and finished his playing career with Cray Wanderers, was voted Non-League player-of-the-year in 2000.

In November 2007, Sittingbourne appointed Abbott as their new manager after Steve Lovell had left to join Ashford Town. Despite  key players leaving for Homelands, Abbott managed to guide the team to a very respectable ninth position and was successful in guiding the team to a Kent Senior Cup Final victory over Folkestone Invicta in May 2010.

However, the team struggled somewhat after the playing budget was slashed  last Christmas and Abbott was replaced by his assistant Richard Brady in June of this year.

Abbott became Erith & Dartford Town’s third manager of the summer when he accepted the job on 15 July – after Darren Anslow and Michael Morgan parted company before the start of their league campaign.

Chairman Roy MacNeil issued the following statement on the club’s website yesterday.

He said: “To secure the services of a manager with Gary’s profile for three years is a massive boost for the football club and more importantly gives us some much needed stability after recent disappointments.”

Abbott added: “Erith & Dartford Town have the professional attitude and structure any manager would be proud to work with, this club is growing and I want to be part of the bigger picture as do the players.”

The club groundshare VCD Athletic’s Oakwood ground at Old Road, Crayford, and they can expect a bumper gate for the first ever Kent Invicta League game, when neighbouring Phoenix Sports visit on Friday, 19^th August (7:45pm)

Visit Erith & Dartford Town’s website: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/erithanddartfordtownfc