Following the heavy defeat at Faversham Town on Tuesday evening and a string of disappointing performances and losses, the board have to announce that Sam Denly has decided to resign his position as manager of Hythe Town

HYTHE TOWN begin the search for a new manager after Sam Denly handed in his resignation this morning.

The Cannons were thrashed 7-1 by Faversham Town in their opening group game in the Velocity Trophy last night, having lost to the same opposition by a single goal at the same venue in the league seven days earlier.

“Following the heavy defeat at Faversham Town on Tuesday evening and a string of disappointing performances and losses, the board have to announce that Sam Denly has decided to resign his position as manager of Hythe Town,” said a club statement.

“Sam has been a very popular and friendly face around Reachfields since his appointment in 2017 and none of us wanted this time to arrive.

“Those wishing to be considered for the vacancy should forward their names in confidence to the secretary Martin Giles by email at martinandsuegiles@gmail.com by 22:00 on Friday 6 September 2019.

“Shortlisted applicants will then be advised on Saturday and should then be able to attend an interview process at a designated local place and time on Sunday 8 September 2019.”

The Cannons have played six games in all competitions this season and have celebrated just the one win – a 2-0 win at home to Whitstable Town – and have suffered some heavy beatings.  They were thrashed 7-2 at Burgess Hill Town on the opening day of the season, 5-0 at Isthmian Premier Division side Cray Wanderers in The FA Cup Preliminary Round and last night’s humiliation by Faversham Town was to be the final straw for Denly, whose side aren’t performing to the tag of a club that should be challenging for promotion, either automatically or via the play-offs.

Hythe Town sit in the bottom three in the Isthmian League South East Division with three points from their opening four league outings and have conceeded 21 goals in all competitions this season.

Denly, who took over from Clive Cook on Monday 22 January 2018, was in charge of 67 games in all competitions, across three seasons.  Hythe Town won 32 games, drew 13 and lost 22 games during his tenure at Reachfields Stadium.

The news follows Adam Flanagan and Jamie Coyle stepping down as joint-managers at Dartford last night.

The Darts are third-from-bottom in the Vanarama National League South, having banked seven points from nine games and the pair stepped down following the Darts’ 3-2 defeat at Tonbridge Angels last night and on a run of just two wins from their last 17 games, including last season.

Hythe Town are without a game at the weekend but a new man should be at the helm for their second Velocity Trophy group game at home to Whitstable Town next Tuesday 10 September.

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk