27thsept04

Players follow Gill to Ashford

Frank Gill has caused a good deal of controversy by quitting Combined Counties League club Southall to take over as manager of Ryman League Division One side Ashford Town, taking the majority of Southall’s senior squad with him, reports www.nonleaguedaily.com

At the Homelands, Gill is reunited with former Spurs and England defender Terry Fenwick, who was director of football at Southall before embarking on an albeit brief return to the Football League as boss of Northampton Town.

Gill’s move has angered officials and supporters of Southall as he has taken a number of players with him without serving the statutory seven-day notices of approach.

Officially, a club is only allowed one seven day notice to the same club once every four weeks unless the club that holds the registration waves the seven-day notice.

On Saturday against Molesey, Ashford’s squad included no less than seven players who followed Gill from Southall and there are, apparently, others who have also joined the Nuts & Bolts but didn’t appear for either Southall or Ashford on Saturday, and that was a particular problem for Southall as they were involved in an FA Vase tie.

Perhaps the best-known player to ‘move’ with Gill to Ashford is former Reading midfielder Byron Glasgow.

Since leaving the Royals, Glasgow has appeared in the colours of Walton & Hersham, St Albans City, Carshalton Athletic and Croydon Athletic before signing for Southall last season.

Other former Southall players in the squad that beat Molesey 2-1 to move off the bottom of the table were the Dussard brothers Leon and Erron, Mohamed Abarak, Steve Mackenzie, ex-Faversham Town defender Marvin Elliott and midfielder Andre Robinson.

Also understood to have followed Gill from Southall are Irish brothers Shane and Donal O’Sullivan, both formerly with Welling United, experienced ex-Welling, Fisher Athletic and Whitstable Town defender Christian Barrett and Steve Sallas.