Worsbrough Bridge's nightmare season took another twist this week as their first team coaches resigned.
Manager Mark Joyce and coach Phil Jacobs left at the weekend after a 3-1 defeat to Grimsby Borough which was their 23rd loss of 31 league games this season while they had picked up just two points from a winless run of 14 matches stretching back to November.
Ian Shirt, who previously played and coached at the relegation-threatened club, will be manager for the rest of the season while also acting as treasurer. MP Michael Dugher has agreed to become club patron while Peter Schofield has taken over from Mark Booth as chairman.
The WSDA association that runs the Park Road ground was involved with a dispute with previous football club chairman Wayne Radford who relocated the Briggers to Grimethorpe in September and then later this season to Maltby before they returned to Worsbrough earlier in 2016.
"I am just exhausted and it was time for to leave," said Joyce. "We have brought in a lot of new players recently and maybe they will gel better under a new manager. When I was brought in four years ago as under 19s manager, I wanted to develop players for the first team and that worked for a while. But this season as first team manager it has been more a case of fighting fires than developing players.
"There have just been too many obstacles. The off-the-field antics have made it very difficult. Moving grounds so often doesn't help anybody. We have tried to keep standards high and maintain a professional set-up and training schedule. But we have had 82 players registered for the first team and we still haven't been able to get a full bench some weeks.
"A lot of the players just haven't had the commitment of myself, Phil and the chairman Mark Booth. We have been getting phonecalls and texts pretty much every matchday with people pulling out. I still believe the team can stay up under a new manager and I wish them all the best. I really want the club to succeed and I have enjoyed most of my time there. I would like to thank the WSDA who took us back to Park Road and have been very supportive ever since."
Booth said: "Mark and Phil have served the club loyally at under 19s and first team level and their commitment during a difficult period should not be underestimated. Throughout this season they have both acted with dignity whilst maintaining a determination and enthusiasm that many others would not have been able to maintain. I know that the decision was difficult for both of them, but it shows the class that both have to leave at a time when there are still points to play for and with games in hand on teams around us."
Second-bottom Worsbrough lost 3-1 at Grimsby Borough on Saturday. The hosts scored early in each half then Lee Garside pulled one back in the 80th minute for Bridge but Grimsby secured the win with a third goal late on. Bridge lost 4-0 to Hemsworth on Tuesday then 6-0 at fellow strugglers Hall Road Rangers on Thursday, leaving them seven points adrift of safety.
