Simon Austin has resigned as manager of Maidstone United under-23s in a surprise move.

Austin feels things have gone backwards off the pitch and made the difficult decision to walk away with the team second in the Suburban League.

He leaves on a high with a 6-1 win over Woking last weekend proving to be his final match.

Assistant boss Joe Dowley has also left the Gallagher, along with goalkeeper coach Matt Grant.

Austin, a former Stones striker, said: “I understand it’s been terrible times for the club over the last 12 months, with Covid, but I don’t want to stand still and I definitely don’t want to go backwards, and there have been a few things recently that have meant we have gone backwards.

“We’re competing against full-time teams in our league, and we’ve competed very well, but I’ve put a lot of time and effort in, as have the management team, and I’ve got a level of self-respect and if things aren’t being met I don’t want to give up my time to not progress as much as we want, or go backwards.

“It’s been a fantastic three years and I appreciate it’s difficult circumstances but I’ve got a line and unfortunately things have fallen below that and I feel like off the pitch we’re going backwards a little bit with where we are.

“I’m ambitious, I want to get on, I’ve given up a lot of time and I’ve got a certain level of self-respect that I want to keep to.

“It certainly wasn’t a decision I took lightly.

“It’s a fantastic club, the support’s great, the lads we worked with were brilliant, so I’m sure people will look at all that and think it was a bit of a strange decision to walk away, considering how successful we’ve been on the pitch as well.

“But, like I say, I’ve got to respect myself, I like things to be done in a certain way and I just personally feel that things have backwards a little bit.

“That’s no disrespect to the club at all - I’d like to thank them for the opportunity.”

Austin was originally named joint-manager alongside former Maidstone team-mate Kane Rice when the development team was launched three seasons ago.

They were on course to win the league at the first attempt when the campaign was curtailed by Covid.

The second season was also scrapped, although Maidstone went on to win a mini-regional league, set up in its place.

There were also individual success stories with Mason Burstow and Bradley Ihionvien earning moves to Football League clubs Charlton and Colchester respectively, while Eitel Goueth is a regular at National South Slough.

Several players also progressed to the first-team picture at Maidstone, including Perri Iandolo, Max Sutton and Billy Johnson, who are part of Hakan Hayrettin’s 2021/22 squad.

Austin, later joined by Dowley after Rice left for a final shot at playing, hopes his work hasn’t gone unnoticed as he awaits his next challenge in management.

He said: “Absolutely, yes, I’d like to look at what the next available option is as quickly as possible.

“I’ve really enjoyed the three years we’ve done here, it’s a fantastic group of lads and I’ve learned a lot and I’m going to continue to learn.

“I know a few people in and around the game, so I’m going to go to a few sessions and ask lots of questions and look and learn and wait to see what comes up next.

“It’s been a tough decision but I feel now is as good a time as any, we’re going out on a high and we’ll see what the future holds.”

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