I'm available immediately, says FA Trophy, FA Cup giant-killer and League title-winner Hugo Langton, as he looks for his next opportunity in either full-time or part-time football

HUGO LANGTON has experienced the highs and the lows of nearly every level in full-time or part-time football during his career – and is currently looking for his next opportunity.

From starting out coaching at Gillingham Ladies and then in the Kent County League with Rusthall, Langton has seen it all.

Langton, 52, who lives in Tonbridge, was assistant manager under Tommy Widdrington at his previous two clubs, Aldershot Town and Eastbourne Borough, where he left in February.

“It didn’t work out how we wanted it to work out.  There’s a million different reasons why but it’s not really fair to say why,” said Langton, reflecting on his time on the Sussex coast.

“It was a difficult job and I suppose ultimately, for the first time ever, we just didn’t get them going. It wasn’t an easy job and it didn’t last very long.”

The pair helped National League side Aldershot Town win The FA Trophy for the very first time in May 2025.

“It was brilliant! We went into a club that was kind of on its backside a bit, struggling, always kind of in a relegation battle and couldn’t win a game in The FA Cup to save its life,” reflected Langton.

“In the first season we went to the FA Cup Third Round and lost to West Brom but we created history along the way.

“We scored seven goals at Swindon, the first non-league side to score seven goals past an EFL team in The FA Cup away from home (winning 7-4 in the First Round in 2023). It was a crazy day!

“We beat Stockport in the Second Round, we beat them in a replay up there 1-0 and we went out to West Brom away.”

Reflecting on his full-time role at National League North side King’s Lynn, Langton enjoyed his time up in Norfolk, despite all the travelling involved.

“That was a brilliant town, a brilliant place.  They had a great team,” said Langton.

“It was brutal in the National League North when you live in Kent!  The hardest thing was Tuesday night away games.  You could be in Southport, Spennymoor or Scarborough and my car would be parked just south of Peterborough and you’d get back to your car at two or three o’clock in the morning, knowing you still had a two-hour drive home.” 

A lot closer to home, Langton was coach under Mark Goldberg at Bromley, helping the Hayes Lane outfit win the then Conference South title in 2015 – the club’s first title since winning the Isthmian League back in 1961.

“It was great times winning the National League South, which was so much fun.  A great team of players that deserved to win the title.

“We were neck and neck with Boreham Wood, when we beat them over Easter and we were 1-0 down and we turned it around and we knew it was in our hands and we beat Weston-Super-Mare 3-0 at home with a game to go. It was brilliant! Great times.”

When asked about his career highlight, it has to be winning The FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium.

“It’s probably the best day in anybody’s life. It’s different if you’re Man City and you go there every year,” said Langton.

“It was brilliant to take them to Wembley. We had 20,000 fans at Wembley and the next day we took the trophy on an open deck bus on Monday evening and the whole town was out and it was incredible.

“Aldershot has a population of 48,000 and everyone was out on the streets and it was phenomenal!

Langton revealed he has been adding strings to his bow during his time out.

“Well, I’ve kept myself very busy. I’ve watched a lot of games.

“I’ve developed an app that’s now available, helping coaches keep football players fresh – www.footballfresh.co.uk – you can download it from the App Store for nothing.

“I’ve been educating myself. I’ve been doing some online coaching. I’ve been to Menorca to do a football fitness experts meeting, which was very interesting and I’ve done online courses. I did the World Cup analysis course and I’ve just started a diploma on football periodisation 2.0 because I think it’s important to keep adding extra strings to your bow.”

Langton is searching for his next role – in either full-time or part-time football and is willing to travel far and wide for his next job.

“If people want to have a conversation with me, I will always have a conversation with them, whether that’s part-time or full-time football, whatever it might be,” said Langton.

“I’m here to help footballers win the next game of football and help and support and lead staff. 

“I’m very, what’s the word, I’m very useful at being placed between the link between the football coaching staff and the medical staff to keep the link strong.

“So there’s always been a bit of ‘them and us’ between the medical people and the football coaching staff and I’m very good at that, amongst a million things.

“I’m currently developing a live analysis football tool, so watch this space on that.

“I will talk to anybody who wants to have a conversation with me.  That’s always been my way and you never know what people will say to you.

“Having worked at every single level from League One downwards, I have respect for the SCEFL.  I’ve been there. It was a huge part of my ladder working with clubs like Rusthall and Holmesdale and then going to Ashford, you should never sneer at levels of football whatsoever.

“I’m available immediately. If anybody wants me to take some coaching or if they want me to watch them play and give them some feedback on them and their coaching, I’m more than happy.  It’s always nice to be involved in football, it’s what I do!

“My strengths lie in being a football coach. I’ve done 765 games of football now as a manager, coach or assistant and whilst the majority of those 765 games I’ve been assistant manager, which is fine and people automatically assume that you can’t be a manager if you’ve mostly been an assistant manager.

“But a funny thing is, the assistant manager does as much as the manager. I’m the one who is on the floor with the team. The manager has to manage the board and directors of football and I can do both basically, so it’s just being open communication with the whole football club.

“But as assistant manager, you certainly manage the team during the week but the manager will pick the team at the end of the week, rightly so.

“The respect I have got for the guys, having done the job myself, the respect I have got for the part-time guys is huge.  They’ve got a full-time job during the day and their managing and coaching in the evenings, preparing the team, doing their home-work on their next team and do signings.

“When I was in full-time football, I’ll train the team in the morning and go home and make clips and show to the players, condense it down to a five to ten minute video because you don’t want to overload them.

“It was full on but you’re planning training.  Having to do that on a full-time job, that’s why I have so much respect for anyone who manages in part-time football. Most of these guys have families, so it’s a difficult job to juggle if you’re part-time.”