Thorpe leaves Male in sole charge

Phil Male is going it alone as manager of Tividale after joint boss Ross Thorpe left the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League club on Wednesday.

In a statement on their website, Dale officials said Thorpe has stood down with immediate effect following last Saturday’s narrow 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Daventry Town.

Former Alvechurch boss Thorpe and Male took charge at The Beeches at the start of the season, pictured below, as the successors to Ian Long after he stood down at the end of last term.

Male will take charge as the sole manager for the first time on Boxing Day when Tividale travel to Romulus looking for three points to help them climb away from trouble at the bottom of the table.

The club's statement read: “Tividale Football Club can confirm that Ross Thorpe has left the club with immediate effect following last Saturday’s narrow 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Daventry Town.

“We would like to place on record our thanks to Ross for his efforts since being appointed as joint-manager in the summer, and we wish him the very best of luck for his future endeavours.

“Phil Male will take the first-team managerial role of Tividale Football Club in a sole capacity ahead of our Boxing Day fixture against Romulus at Coles Lane, working alongside first team coach, Raj Noor.

“Christmas is a crucial time from a fixture perspective, and our immediate attention is not only to prepare the team for Saturday’s game at Romulus, but also our home fixture just 48 hours later with Market Drayton Town on Bank Holiday Monday.”

In other changes at The Beeches, current head of communications, Steven Beech, has been appointed to the newly-created role head of football operations. Dale have also appointed Mick Preston as assistant head of football operations after his previous role as matchday secretary.

Beech, 28, said he was looking forward to getting stuck in to his new role. Following his appointment, he said: “I’m delighted and privileged to have been offered the role, and being trusted by the committee to undertake the responsibilities that have been handed to me.

“I’ve enjoyed a terrific working relationship with Leon since officially joining the Club in November 2014, and I expect that these new specific roles will further enhance that relationship we have.

“We’re not in the position we’d like to be in the Northern Premier League First Division South table at the moment – I think that’s quite clear for all to see.

“We need to work hard, stick together, try to get some points in the coming games and hopefully enjoy a good festive period from a form perspective with the primary target of retaining our league status."

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