Whitstable Town unveil Keith McMahon as their new manager

WHITSTABLE TOWN have appointed Keith McMahon as their new manager.

The former Thamesmead Town and VCD Athletic manager replaces Lloyd Blackman, who stepped down from the role on Thursday 23 September.

Player-coach Ben Harding took charge in an interim basis for their 4-0 defeat at league rivals Chichester City in The FA Trophy First Qualifying Round two days later, before going down to a 4-3 home defeat to Cray Valley (Paper Mills) at the weekend.

McMahon has been out of senior football management since leaving Crayford-based VCD Athletic on Friday 26 June 2020.

Twenty people applied for the job at the Kent club.

“Keith arrives with many years of experience in football management and the development of youth players, taking Thamesmead Town from the Kent League to the Isthmian League, then more recently spending five years at VCD Athletic,” said a club statement.

“Keith will be meeting the players and staff in the next couple of days and we welcome him to The Belmont.

“Following the unexpected resignation of Lloyd Blackman 12 days ago, the Whitstable Town directors received numerous applications and enquiries concerning the vacant position of first-team manager.

“A series of interviews were carried out over three days during the past week and the quality of the candidates was high.  We would like to thank everyone for their interest and especially those that took the time to discuss the position with us.

“The club would also like to offer special things to our player-coach Ben Harding, who has impressed everyone during his short time with us and whose help during this difficult interim period has been much appreciated.”

Whitstable Town are next in action on Tuesday 12 October when they travel to Hastings United.

The Oystermen are currently second-from-bottom in the Isthmian League South East Division with one point from their opening six league games.

The club has won only one of their 10 games in all competitions this season, a 5-0 home win over lower-league side Alfold in The FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday 21 August 2021.

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.club