STEVE Taylor has resigned as joint-manager of Ely City – claiming he was stabbed in the back . Taylor walked out of the Unwin Ground this weekend after learning that fellow joint-manager Dennis Lightning had been offered the chance to take sole charge o

STEVE Taylor has resigned as joint-manager of Ely City - claiming he "was stabbed in the back".

Taylor walked out of the Unwin Ground this weekend after learning that

fellow joint-manager Dennis Lightning had been offered the chance to take sole charge of the club next season.

Taylor confronted club officials on Saturday night about the situation and resigned on the spot.

Lightning will take charge for the rest of the campaign and has indicated he would do the job next season as well.

Taylor said: "I've known about what's been going on for a couple of weeks.

"Dennis told me that he had been approached and offered the job on his own for next season.

"I'm really disappointed. I felt that, if the board had something to say about the job I was doing, they should have said it to my face.

"On a personal note, there's no way I can carry on. I'm a proud man and I won't put myself in a position of working for people like that.

"I feel like I've been stabbed in the back."

Taylor said that, although he knew two weeks ago of the approach to Lightning, he wanted to wait and see if the club would admit to it before he was forced to resign.

He went on: "There's a lot of two-faced people at that club and I've had to put up with a lot this season. The budget's the same as it was five years ago.

"While the club has moved forward on the pitch, it hasn't moved forward off the pitch at all."

Lightning admitted that he had been approached by chairman Bob Button with a view to taking on the manager's job on his own and added: "I'm very disappointed and sad that things have happened like this. I was asked two weeks ago whether I would be interested in taking the manager's job on my own and I was fairly non-committal at the time.

"I thought long and hard about it and decided that I had to tell Steve what had happened.

"I did hope that we could sort something out - in fact, I asked the chairman last week whether there was a chance Steve and I could carry on together next season and he said there was - but obviously we've been overtaken by events."

Lightning said he would continue for the rest of the season and would take charge for the next campaign. "I've indicated that I would carry on next season and that's what I'll do, as long as the club wants me.

"I brought a couple of players over from Sawston [Simon Warren and Robbie Mason] and I would like to keep going.

"Unfortunately, sometimes as a manager you don't just have the football side to think about - there's the political side too.

"Steve is very well respected in the football world and I wish him all the best."

Button said that he was prepared to offer Taylor the chance to work with Lightning for next season, as well as the chance to take charge of the under-18 side.

"The board agreed that we would ask Dennis if he wanted to be in charge for next season. Dennis asked me if I'd be okay with Steve being his second in command if he asked him and I said

yes.

"We were also going to ask Steve if he wanted to take charge of the under-18 side as Stephen Reid is leaving. He's helped bring a lot of good youngsters through from Chatteris."

Ely have seven Ridgeons Division One matches left this season.

Taylor came to the Unwin Ground in 2003 as Martin Pammenter's assistant before taking on the job on his own later that year.

Taylor brought in Lightning at the start of the 2004-2005 season and they were appointed joint-managers of the end of that campaign.