It's been a long hard season, admits Eltham Palace chairman Neil Proctor

ELTHAM PALACE chairman Neil Proctor has unveiled the arrival of Charlie McCarthy as the club’s new manager.

The club struggled in the Kent Invicta League last season finishing in the bottom four with six wins and three draws from their 28 league games.

They were the only side to lose to whipping boys Crockenhill, who finished the season with three points, conceding 159 goals in the process.

“Myself and Walt Noriega took over Eltham Palace last season and had a blank canvas to work with – we had no coaches or players form the previous season,” said Proctor, who was also in charge of the team last season.

“We had to build our own team and establish the way we wanted to run Eltham Palace.

“It’s been a long hard season, but we feel that our hard work is starting to pay off!

“Obviously, the Kent Invicta League is a decent standard of football and we soon realised that this was a massive task to get the club competing with the rest of the clubs at this level.

“We had two other coaches working with us in the last half of the season (Darrell Queeley and Trefor Lloyd), which helped us immensely!

“However, at the end of this season, myself, Darrell and Trefor decided that we wanted to move in different directions and they have since amicably parted company with Eltham Palace.

“I would like to take this chance to thank both Darrell and Trefor for all their efforts and wish them luck in the future.”

Proctor will remain as chairman for the new season and he will supervise both the seniors and the planned new under 21 side.

Noriega will also remain around both squads in a supervisory capacity.

On Thursday the club unveiled the arrival of Charlie McCarthy, 24, who finished the season playing for Carshalton Athletic, who were relegated from the Ryman Premier League along with Cray Wanderers and Thamesmead Town last season.

McCarthy has the title of head coach at the club, but explained that means he will be the man that leads the first team, whilst Proctor and Noriega take a slight backwards step to run other club matters.

He also coached the development team at Millwall Lionesses, playing their home games at Beckenham Town’s Eden Park Avenue.

Proctor said: “We feel that Charlie’s coaching qualifications, experience and local contacts will help push Eltham Palace forward.

“Charlie is a great candidate to work alongside myself and Walt and fully understands the limitations and considerations that are required for the club’s future success both on and off the pitch.”