BREAKING: Ely City boss stands down in wake of latest defeat

Ely City FC V Gorleston (Image: Archant)

Alan Alsop (Image: Archant)

Alsop, who has been involved with the club for the last six years, said he was no longer enjoying being in charge and said he “had to do something” to turn around the Robins’ miserable form, which has seen them plummet down to 18th place in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division.

Alsop handed his resignation in to chairman Robert Button in the aftermath of his side’s 3-2 defeat to CRC at the Unwin Ground on Tuesday night, a team Alsop said they “should not have lost to”.

He said: “We should not be losing to teams like that, it was embarrassing and it was the final straw for me.

“Something has to be done, if we can’t change the players and we can’t change the budget, then the only option left is to change the manager so I decided to go. I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for the club and I hope it works.

“The chairman wasn’t surprised when I told him, he knows I haven’t been enjoying it for the last two months. I told all the players on Wednesday morning and thanked them for all their hard work.

“I have handed over to Ben Lawrence and Brady Stone and they are going to take it on for the rest of the season.

“If it works, it works but if it doesn’t then at least we can say we tried.”

Alsop said he still enjoyed the buzz of football and would take another job in management if an opportunity presented itself.

The Robins went 2-0 down against CRC inside the opening 30 minutes of Tuesday’s night’s match before Austen Diaper mustered a response just shy of half-time.

But a breakaway goal less than 15 minutes into the second half checked Ely’s momentum.

Diaper added his second of the game with just a few minutes to play but it came too late.

The defeat leaves Ely two points from safety, albeit having played five games more than FC Clacton, who sit one place above them.

Ely came into the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Gorleston on Saturday.