Hythe Town tell new boss Andy Drury to help steer the club through the remainder of the campaign and give them the best possible chance of survival

HYTHE TOWN chairman Vishal Nanda has appointed Andy Drury as their third manager of the season last night.

The 42-year-old played for Sittingbourne, Gravesend & Northfleet, Lewes, Stevenage Borough, Luton Town, Crawley Town, Eastleigh, Ebbsfleet United, Havant & Waterlooville, Cray Wanderers, Folkestone Invicta and Chatham Town, in a career between 2001-2024.

Drury has previously managed Whitstable Town, Margate and Folkestone Invicta and has been appointed Hythe Town’s new manager, after the club sacked Darren Beale last Saturday after failing to win any of his nine games in charge.

“Andy brings a huge amount of experience at this level, having previously managed Folkestone Invicta, and he joins us at a really important moment in the season,” said a club statement.

“His main focus is simply and clear – to help steer Hythe Town through the remainder of the campaign and give us the best possible chance of survival.

“The chairman wants supporters to understand that every decision made over this season has been done with one goal in mind – success  for Hythe Town Football Club.

“Both previous managers were appointed with a vision for progress and were backed financially to bring in the players they felt were needed to turn things around.  Unfortunately, despite those efforts, results on the pitch haven’t been good enough.

“This decision has not been easy but it has been necessary to protect the future of the club.

“Now is the time for everyone connected with Hythe Town to pull together.

“We ask our supporters to get behind Andy, the staff and the players as we head into the final part of the season. The lads are giving everything and your support from the stands really does matter.

“Please come down, get behind the team, make some noise and show what this club is all about.”

It has been a miserable last couple of seasons for the Reachfields Stadium faithful.

The club dropped out of the Isthmian League South East Division – their first ever relegation – at the end of last season, finishing second-from-bottom with 22 points (six wins, four draws and 32 defeats).

The Cannons last Isthmian League victory came on 1 March 2025, a 2-1 win at Lancing – the only side to finish beneath them in the table (also finishing on 22 points).

The club completed their League campaign with 10 defeats from their last winless 11 games.

Since winning at Lancing, Hythe Town have played 41 games in all competitions, winning only six, drawing seven and losing 28.

Drury and his players have to hit the ground running. The miss-firing Cannons are sitting at the foot of the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 13 points from their 23 games and are eight points adrift of safety with only 13 games remaining.

Hythe Town travel to Gillingham on Saturday to play fourteenth-placed side Hollands & Blair, who have picked up 28 points (nine wins, one draw and 13 defeats).

Failure on Saturday, or the sides above them in the table, Chislehurst Glebe (21 points from 15), Faversham Strike Force (22 points from as many games), then the club can look forward to playing the likes of Bridon Ropes in the tenth-tier next season – in front of 26 people. An actual attendance for the Charlton-based club for a First Division home game against Chessington & Hook United this season.

The Cannons went into the division naïve expecting it would be a easy stroll with rookie manager Ira Jackson at the helm.  Managers in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division class it as the ‘best Step Five division in the country.’

Since the start of last season, Sammy Moore, Nick Davis, Martin Chandler, Jackson and Beale have been in charge of the team. Whether a man without managerial experience in this division can come in and get the club out of this mess in the space of 13 games, we will know in the next three months or so.

The Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division is the hardest division to get out off - you only just have to ask the likes of Chatham Town, Sheppey United and Faversham Town in recent seasons.  

The thought of Hythe Town – a club that reached the last 32 of The FA Trophy under Steven Watt just two years ago - playing in the tenth-tier, the Southern Counties East Football League First Division where so many of the 18 clubs groundshare, is unthinkable.

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk