Glenn Goudie has informed the committee at Wallingford Town AFC of his decision to step down as 1st team manager. Goudie, who joined the club three seasons ago to fill the vacancy left by long-serving manager Duncan Mitchell, has decided to focus his efforts on leading the club from a strategic position as the club looks to strengthen and progress on and off the field.
The former manager’s decision to move on has also seen Assistant Manager Andy Silver and coach Rob Wytchard take up the opportunity to take on the vacant management role at Woodcote FC, who play in the Hellenic League 2 South. The club would like to thank Andy and Rob for their service to the club.
“After much consideration, I have decided to stand down as 1st team manager of Wallingford Town AFC.
During the summer of 2020, I took on the combined role of 1st team manager and General Manager, following the resignation of key members of the club, our Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Secretary. I took the GM role to help steady the ship and give the new committee the opportunity to build on the previous officers’ great work, whilst helping to lead the club into a direction worth exploring.
The 1st team had established themselves in Step 6 football and it was disappointing to finish outside of the promotion places but we fell short and must regroup. We enjoyed a solid start to the season in the league and we enjoyed some victories and some harsh lessons in the hastily arranged cup competition. The players have been great to work with and we have been a consistent, hard-working Step 6 team but it is now time for a new manager to come in and bring some freshness to the squad and allow for me to concentrate on a number of projects that I have been working on behalf of the club, along with various parties.
Unfortunately, my decision has seen both my assistant Andy Silver and coach Rob Wytchard leave the club and take up a management role locally. I thank them for their hard work, commitment, and the good times we had managing the team. I wish them the best of luck. Our reserves manager John Hurley has also left the club and I thank him for his work at the club and the support he has provided the 1st team as well as his efforts to build a competitive squad.
So for now, I say goodbye to managing the 1st team but the committee has agreed to support my efforts to continue to lead the club into whatever new adventures we find ourselves in. We have a really strong setup with our reserve team, ladies, and youth teams and we will be adding an additional youth team to the club from next season.
We will continue to strive to bring our football community together, work with our commercial partners and support the new management teams on and off the pitch.
We have been working on some very exciting projects and everyone associated with the club should feel very encouraged by where we are heading.
The club provides great opportunities for hard-working, committed and enthusiastic, volunteers, managers, and coaches.
I have enjoyed my time managing the club, but the next chapter of my football journey awaits.”
Club Secretary Paul Whitty said, “Glenn will be leaving his role as first-team manager and instead will be leading the club, enabling him to spend more time on club strategy and development ” He added, “With Glenn focussed 100% on the organisational aspects of the club, it will give us more capacity to move forward with ambitious projects.
