Tom Greaves resigns as manager of FC United of Manchester

First Posted ~ 19:00 Tue 28 Aug 2018 News ID ~ 8006 Last Updated ~ 11:01 Wed 19 Sep 2018

Tom Greaves has resigned as manager of FC United of Manchester following the club’s disappointing start to the season. Tom’s resignation was received ahead of the club’s board meeting on Tuesday 28th August.FC United’s former captain and fan favourite Dave Chadwick will take over as caretaker manager with immediate effect and will be assisted by current first team coaches Tom Conroy and Jack Doyle.After an impressive pre-season campaign there were hopes that Tom Greaves’ newly assembled squad would hit the ground running in our fourth season in National League North but after our first six matches we lie second from bottom of the table with only three points following Monday’s 2-0 defeat at Spennymoor Town.Speaking about his decision, Tom Greaves said; “It has been an absolute honour, not only to play for the club but to captain and then manage it, and it is something that I will never forget and an experience that I’ve learnt a lot from both on and off the pitch. The opportunity to play football all over the world has been incredible and I will walk away with literally hundreds of special memories and that is largely down to the amazing fans of this club”.Greaves took temporary charge on 25th October, following the departure of Karl Marginson, with the club languishing second from bottom of the table with a mere eleven points gleaned from the first fourteen matches. There was an almost immediate impact and the team performed well in those first few weeks with Tom as boss, assisted by Tom Conroy and Jack Doyle. Subsequently Greaves was appointed full time manager on 21st November 2017.Indeed there was a purple patch in December and early January when FC United took on the best sides in the division and the football was a joy to watch - a youthful FC side playing attacking football with passion and verve and seemingly not knowing when it was beaten and for a few weeks it felt like we’d got our mojo back on and off the pitch.Unfortunately we couldn’t keep that form going and safety was only eventually secured with a battling 1-0 victory over York City in late April. Nevertheless it was to their great credit that Greaves and his inexperienced management team managed to keep FC in National League North after such a poor start to the season and with little room to manoeuvre on the transfer front. And there was some silverware to celebrate too as FC retained the Manchester Premier Cup with victory over Trafford.On the pitch the thirty three year old is the club’s leading goal scorer having scored 103 goals (the Centurion Ale named in his honour) in 273 appearances for the club and has been a firm favourite of supporters since joining FC in 2013. His 25 goals during the 2014-15 campaign helped FC finally secure promotion from the Northern Premier League and his efforts attracted national recognition as he was awarded the Non-League Paper’s Step 3 and 4 Player of the Year Award.Prior to joining FC the Yorkshireman had three spells at Bradford Park Avenue where he was perhaps most (in)famous for notching the 119th minute winner for Bradford in the Northern Premier League play-off final against FC United in 2012 that denied us promotion to the Conference North once again. Away from football Tom and his brother run their own full-time business providing sports coaching to pre-school and school aged kids across West Yorkshire.Damian Chadwick CEO at FC United said “We’re sure that all FC United members and supporters will join us in thanking Tom for his tremendous service to the club over the last five years both as a player and a manager and wishing him all the very best for the future. The word legend is often bandied around in a sporting context but we feel sure that Tom will always hold a special place in the hearts of FC United supporters and be remembered for many years to come as the first player to score more than one hundred goals for the club and also for stepping up as player manager during one of the most difficult periods in the club’s history. Tom’s love for the club and embracing of its values has been plain for all to see and this has undoubtedly been a difficult decision for him to make and one that is tinged with sadness. It goes without saying that Tom will always be welcome at this football club and we look forward to seeing him back at Broadhurst Park.”