Edwards and Hall quit Peacehaven before performaing U-turn at Tye
A BALL has hardly been kicked, yet already there's been high drama at Peacehaven FC in a week which saw the management team resign only to be reinstated just days later.
Joint bosses Peter Edwards and Terry Hall quit their posts on Sunday amid rumours of a mass player exodus after what Edwards dubbed "a very trying two weeks".
Realising he had made a "rash decision" Edwards retracted his resignation the following day and on Wednesday evening Hall rang the club to say he too wished to return.
It followed intense speculation surrounding players' futures at the club. Having enjoyed a highly successful first season in County League Division 1 the Tye were braced for interest in a number of its squad.
This materialised with the news that Wes Millis had joined rivals Crawley Down and Tom Burton was training with Darren Guirey's side.
Together with news that Callum Saunders and Clive Snell were training with Bognor and with Andy Wilkinson due to leave for America soon it meant the possibility of Peacehaven's entire midfield disbanding.
The news caused uncertainty over which of the squad would commit themselves and on Saturday only a handful of first team players were on show as Peacehaven were beaten 3-0 by Seaford in a pre-season friendly, prompting Edwards and Hall to walk the following day and the club to hold an emergency meeting where vice chairman Sean Saunders was installed as caretaker manager.
"It's been a very trying two weeks at the football club to be honest," Edwards admitted on Thursday.
"Last year we had a very tight knit bunch, it was friends playing football despite us not having a budget like other clubs and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
"We had a meeting with the players at the end of last season and said we wanted them to be open and honest about if they were staying.
"I trusted all the players and unfortunately that trust was broken by one or two. I would never blame players for wanting large sums of money because if clubs have a big budget that's their choice.
"Terry and I decided to step down, it was a rash decision from both of us and immediately when I woke up the next morning I realised I'd made a mistake.
"There's no way I would leave this group of players now or in the future and I retracted my resignation and thankfully I was given my job back, and I was delighted when Terry rang me last night to say he'd made a mistake."
On Tuesday Edwards held a meeting with his players where he says 70 per cent of last year's team committed themselves to the club. There is still uncertainty surrounding the players training with other clubs, which includes Tom Burton and Ashley Jones who are training at Worthing and Edwards says he has no issue with those wanting to play at a higher level.
One positive amidst the chaos is the signing of former Whitehawk midfielder Aaron Gunn, and Edwards hopes to sign Seaford trio Adam Kneller and brothers Scott and Ben Dartnall. With defenders Stuart Clarke and Jamie Cullimore coming back from serious injury Edwards is now looking forward.
He said: "As far as I'm concerned it's behind us now and it's time to move forward."
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Weather for Lewes
Friday 25 May 2012
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