Departed manager Richard Wilkins felt new cut to budget at Stowmarket Town left an ‘impossible’ job

Richard Wilkins said further budget cuts revealed to him at Stowmarket Town this week meant he felt it was ‘impossible' for him to carry on as manager, but hopes the community will rally behind the club.

The Pitching In Isthmian League North Division outfit revealed his assistant Alex Rossis and himself had resigned following a board meeting on Tuesday where ‘new team budget restraints’ were relayed to them.

Within hours of the news of their departure on Wednesday it was revealed one of the experienced players they managed to bring in, David ‘Bart’ Lorimer, had been appointed as manager until the end of the season.

The former Bildeston Rangers player-boss, who will work with Liam Hawkins as his first-team coach, has already seen five players subsequently depart, including club captain Jack Wilkinson. Striker Scott Sloots, Jamie Bennett and recent signings Taylor Hastings and George Bugg, the latter who only rejoined the club from Hadleigh United on Friday, have also left.

Wilkins, who stepped up following an interim spell as manager in the summer, having come in as Paul Musgrove’s assistant in April 2021, leaves the Step 4 club bottom of the table without a win in 13 matches and six points from safety in the sole relegation spot with two points.

Already struggling with a predominantly young side, as the club adjusts to life after big sponsor Tom Morley’s withdrawal, he felt the latest cut to the budget left him no choice but to walk away.

“I think everyone knows there’s financial implications at the club and you can tell that from the sort of squad we’ve had out,” he said.

“Unfortunately the actual initial budget had to be adjusted and it’s been adjusted further and it’s become impossible for me to carry on.

“The budget is not even a Step 5 budget, it more like a Step 6 budget.

“It’s very difficult as everyone is working hard at Stow but there seems to be, from what I can gather, bills coming in that they thought had been paid a year or so ago, and I just think everything has mounted up.

“Me and Alex have worked tirelessly to get players in but every 10 players we spoke to we might get one, but even talking to players at a lower level they were on more then we could offer them.

“The club needs a lot of support from the community as it’s been a very strange and quite mad five years for Stowmarket in many ways.

“They need to regroup and the board have basically had to cut the budget because obviously the bills have to be paid and the playing side has been suffering all year but preserving the club is the biggest thing in all this.”

The former Colchester United and Cambridge United professional said he left with no bad feelings towards anyone and wished the club and its volunteers all the best going forward.

“There is no animosity at all,” he said.

“The bottom line is the people that have taken it over have got an uphill battle and they’ve got to get the community behind them to support them.”

On his own future, Bury Town’s most successful ever manager said he would be open to offers as an assistant but he feels his time in charge in the dugout is over, having also taken in spells at Needham Market and Leiston.

He said: “I didn’t reluctantly take the position on (at Stowmarket). I took it on because I was spoken to by quite a few people at the club who felt I would probably be the only one who might be able to steer the ship back, and I’m afraid I’ve not been able to do that.

“But I like to be an assistant. I don’t think I would go into management as it’s such a commitment.

“I only did it at Stowmarket because at the end of last season everyone was leaving and I felt when I was asked by quite a few people, not just the board, about staying on and helping there was a lot of passion there.

“I got offered a few assistant roles at the end of last season but I thought ‘no, I’ll stick around and help Stowmarket’ and I got Alex (Rossis) on board who I can’t speak highly enough of.

“Lauren (physio) also stayed on board and I thought we had an opportunity but that wasn’t to be.

“I’ll have a nice Christmas and enjoy it but if the phone goes I’ll listen to it and see what happens.”

After last Saturday’s home game with Enfield fell victim to a waterlogged pitch, Stow are due to return to action at Heybridge Swifts tomorrow (3pm).