Former manager returns to Lancing FC to take over from Cox

The Lancers, who lost Cox to one of his former clubs, the Hillians, last week, said: “Dave will be a familiar name to many Lancing fans, having been Head Coach of the team in the 2019-20 season when we topped the league in that Covid-restricted year.

"Dave has since been Head of Football at Ringmer AFC, Head Coach at Newhaven FC and, most recently, manager at Loxwood FC where he guided them to 15th in the SCFL.

"Dave holds a UEFA B licence and brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts across Sussex and his excellent reputation as a coach and manager is well deserved. All at the club are delighted to welcome Dave back to Culver Road.

“Dave is joined by Phil Norman as Assistant Manager. Phil brings with him a diverse set of transferable skills from a career in leadership and management within the sports industry.

"Phil has a degree in Sports Management and is currently working as head of Physical Education at Thomas Bennett Community College, his ability to organise, motivate and analyse will be a major asset to Dave’s team.

“Joining as first team coaches will be Alex Marr and Jamie Hollis.

“Alex has a degree in Sports Coaching from the University of Chichester and currently works as Chelsea Champion for Chelsea FC Foundation. The UEFA B Coach brings with him extensive experience in the coaching industry and a wealth of knowledge in the game.

“Jamie worked last season as Worthing Utd U23s manager and also holds the coveted UEFA B licence. Jamie is an expert in the tactical side of the game and will be involved in the performance and analytical side of the management team.”

Chairman Steve Taylor said: “It is great to be able to work with Dave and his team again and we are excited that our third Isthmian League campaign will have him at the helm. Dave was top of our shortlist and the only person we approached to take the vacant manager’s role and we are confident that we will build on our recent success next season.’

Altendorff said: “I built a strong connection with everybody at Loxwood in a short period of time and I am immensely proud of what we achieved together. I want to publicly thank the chairman Mark Lacey for giving me that opportunity and for his unwavering support as well as thank the players for their positivity and commitment this season.

“However, ultimately the opportunity to return to Lancing Football Club and work with Steve, Barry and the rest of the brilliant committee down there in the Isthmian League was too good an opportunity to turn down. They have an excellent squad already, many of whom I have worked with before, and I am excited to get to know this group even better over the coming weeks and to get to work in preseason.

“We will be making some fantastic additions to the squad over the coming weeks which we are really excited to announce and confident these will go down very well with the Lancing faithful. We will look to continue the Lancing tradition of playing exciting attacking football and are confident the supporters are going to enjoy what they see.”