Kent County League Premier Division side Ashford begin the search for a new management team following the departures of John Ripley and Liam Smith

ASHFORD begin the search for a new management team following the departures of manager John Ripley and his assistant manager Liam Smith yesterday.

The Reachfields Stadium based outfit are currently sitting in tenth-place of a sixteen-team division in the Kent County League Premier Division table, having picked up 14 points (four wins, two draws and six defeats) from their 12 league outings.

“Manager John Ripley has decided to take a step back from management duties at Ashford FC after being offered a fabulous sports opportunity outside football,” said a club statement.

“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks for the great job he has done, especially securing promotion to the Kent County Premier Division.

“John will remain with the club in the background but for now we wish him the very best of luck going forward.

“The club would also like to thank Liam Smith, who is leaving the club, for the fantastic job he has done assisting manager John Ripley.

“We wish him the best in his future endeavours.”

Smith was the former manager of Lydd Town and not to be confused with the current centre-half at Isthmian League South East Division side Hythe Town.

The pair’s last game in charge at the Hythe-based outfit was a 2-1 home win over Ide Hill at the weekend in the Bill Manklow Inter-Regional Cup Second Round, which was watched by 22 people.

Eleventh-tier Ashford travel to seventh-placed Tenterden Town in the next round in their next outing on Saturday 2 December (13:30).

ARTICLE UPDATE - 4 DECEMBER 2023

Ashford have appointed Chris Woollcott as their manager and he will be assisted by Adam Ebbs.