Sean Jarvie and Tim Moffatt quit Lewisham Borough: We have left the club due to differences of opinions with the chairman

LEWISHAM BOROUGH begin the search for their third management team of the season.

Joint player-managers Sean Jarvie and Tim Moffatt both decided to resign after 18 games in charge of the Ladywell Arena based club.

The pair won four, drew two and lost 12 of the games in charge of the club and the perennial strugglers are in the bottom three of the Southern Counties East Football League First Division table with 14 points from 21 games.

They are one point clear of Gravesham Borough, who have played a couple of games more, while Crockenhill are bottom having won only three of their 23 league outings.

“We have left the club due to differences of opinions with the clubs chairman (Raymond Simpson) – we see the game from different angles,” said Moffatt.

“We had a very young team, who we are very supportive of and they were supporting of us. Myself and Sean wanted to help them to develop and enjoy their football.

“All of the players’ pay membership fees, match fees and have to pay for training, which is fine, as Lewisham have struggled for a few seasons now and maybe some sponsorships have gone, but this means you have to manage differently and can’t always sign or release players’ due to the membership fee, etc.

“Myself and Sean took over eight games in and it’s always going to take time to get the team slowly creeping up the league.

“Some of the teams in this league have a budget and although I know everyone doesn’t have a budget, we were genuinely trying our best to get young players’ new to senior football to be able to compete against players’ who have played in these league’s for a long time and have gained experience of how to win matches.

“Also some of these sides in the league don’t have budgets but they have camaraderie, spirit and unity and that was always going to take a bit of time to trying to achieve that at Lewisham.

“I feel for Step six level as we feel we needed more support at certain times and not to be questioned at every decision we made.  Our team selections, training theories and commitment were constantly questioned.  Now, Sean and I aren’t Pep Guardiola by a long way but to question our commitment wasn’t fair!

“This isn’t a personal attack at anyone or at the club. It’s a difference of opinion and our side to why we have decided to leave the club.

“I’d like to thank Ray Simpson and the Lewisham board for the opportunity. It wasn’t one of my most enjoyable experiences but one I’ve definitely learnt a lot from.  Football is full of opinions and the way we both see football from completely different ends of the spectrum.

“We want to thank all of the players’ for their loyalty and commitment in our short time at Lewisham Borough as players, coaches and would like to wish the club good luck with moving forward.

“Moving forward I would like to continue playing at this level.  I know I’m more than capable of competing and I’m still passionate.  If a coaching role at a higher level was to come calling, I would also consider that.”

The club have not confirmed who will be in charge for their London Senior Trophy Quarter-Final at home to league rivals Phoenix Sports Reserves on Saturday.

Lewisham Borough have not announced the departure of Jarvie and Moffatt on any of their media platforms.