Dover Athletic boss Andy Hessenthaler has left the club by mutual consent.

The 57-year-old departs with Dover sitting 15th in National League South, five points above the relegation zone with 28 points from 23 games this season.

Dover chairman Jim Parmenter said: “Andy has given terrific service to the club and assisted me in navigating some very difficult times.

“I wish to place on record our gratitude for his efforts, understanding, and hard work during his time at the club.

“He is a man of integrity and decency, and I'm sure he will be successful in his next role.

“We remain good friends and Hess will be welcome at Crabble at any time.”

Hessenthaler has since took on the head of recruitment role at Gillingham, working alongside current boss Neil Harris, while Kenny Jackett has come in as director of football. Hessenthaler was director of football when Martin Allen guided the Priestfield outfit to the League 2 title in 2012/13.

He made 362 appearances for Gillingham, scoring 27 goals. He initially took over as player-boss in 2000, holding the post for more than four years.

Hessenthaler was back in 2010 after his first spell at Dover, overseeing two seasons in League 2 which saw the club fall just short of reaching the play-offs.

He was one of the gang of four put in charge again in December 2014 when Peter Taylor left the club, holding that position for eight games until Justin Edinburgh took over at Priestfield.

He returned to Crabble for a second spell in charge in October 2018 after leaving Eastleigh. He guided Whites to safety and helped transition the squad from part-time to full-time status.

Hessenthaler guided Dover to 14th in that season, improving to 11th spot on points per game in 2019/20. Dover were just four points away from the play-offs in March 2020 when the season was effectively halted due to Covid.

In February 2021, Dover chairman Jim Parmenter refused to carry on playing any more games in the National League due to a lack of funding.

Hessenthaler, along with his then-assistant Nicky Southall, was put on furlough by the club at the time. Mr Parmenter said he had been left with no option but to make the decision to prevent the club from becoming insolvent.

In the same month, Hessenthaler also revealed that money was so tight one of his players had to stay with him for two weeks earlier in the campaign.

"People don't know it but Omar stayed with me and my wife for two weeks," said Hessenthaler at the time. "Financially, the club couldn't find him anywhere to live so he came and lived with me - he ate me out of food, mind!"

Dover, who had played only 15 games in the season and were bottom of the table, had their record expunged in March 2021, they were also fined £40,000 and issued with a 12-point deduction for the 2021/22 season.

Hessenthaler remained loyal to Dover, though, and rebuilt his squad. But it soon became clear Dover were fighting a losing battle in the National League with a shoestring budget and the points deduction meant they never came off the bottom.

They were relegated in March but Mr Parmenter immediately gave Hessenthaler his backing and he stayed at the helm for their return to National League South this season.

Following Hessenthaler's departure, Dover assistant boss Mitch Brundle and coach Mike Sandmann will take joint interim charge of the team "for the next few games", including this Saturday's trip to Hungerford.

Sandmann on Twitter wrote: "I just wanted to publicly thank the manager for all his support during his time at Dover Athletic.

"He gave so many debuts and opportunities to our Academy players, and opening up the pathway in terms of player development. This made my job a lot more rewarding and I look forward to continuing this for the future.

"I would like to wish him good luck at Gillingham Football Club in his next role.

"Myself and Brunds will work as hard as we can to get results on the pitch in the interim.

"I would like to thank the supporters for their continued support."