Dabba Decides It's Time To Move On From Bognor Regis

First coming to the club in the 90s, he immediately felt at home and he heart has never been far from Nyewood Lane ever since.

But against Dartford on Saturday he will bring down the curtain on more than 18 years of service in the club’s last game in the National League South.

Jack Pearce’s right hand man won’t be going with Bognor back to the Isthmian League, he has decided.

In an interview with the Bognor Regis Observer, the man they call Dabba spoke passionately about what he called the “hardest decision I’ve ever had to make”.

He said; “I’ve spoken to close and reliable friends and had been thinking about it for some time. I had burn-out at the end of last season and I suppose I might have gone then, but there was the carrot of the National League South ahead of us and I wanted to challenge myself.

“Recently I’ve known in my heart I needed a break. I coach with energy and enthusiasm and try to capture the imagination of players I’m working with. I wanted to keep those levels up but I had nothing left.”

He told the Observer: “There’s a jigsaw puzzle of reasons and the biggest one is that I’m tired – exhausted, burned out, more burned out than a year ago.

“I’ve been caught up in a whirlwind of emotions because I love the club so much and always want to give it 100 per cent.

“I need to recharge my batteries. Could I return to the club in the future? It’s possible, who knows. But for now I need to concentrate on myself a little more.”