ANDY FORD quit as Gravesend manager because he believed he did not enjoy the confidence of the club's board of directors.

Ford said that matters came to a head over his decision to appoint former Aldershot assistant manager Stuart Cash as his number two in succession to Adrian Pennock.

Cash left Aldershot to become manager of Ryman League St Albans but left after a week.

Ford said: "Without an assistant it had become difficult. I had someone lined up who was ready to come but I had to wait for a phone call the next day and I took that as a lack of confidence in me.

"If the board haven't got confidence in the manager it's not worth continuing."

He vehemently denied rumours that the Fleet players were not behind him.

He said: "A few people suggested that I'd lost the dressing room but that wasn't right. Steve McKimm, the club captain, asked me to reconsider my decision. He said the players were all devastated, and wanted me back.

"It made me feel as though I had done a good job. But once I've made a decision I'm a man of my word."

Ford stressed that he was determined to stay in management but first wanted a break.

"I'm a football man and I want to get back as quickly as possible, though I do need a break. But as a manager you can't have a break in the middle of the season.

"The last couple of months have been tiring and it was a culmination of things that led to my resignation."

And in a parting shot, he could not resist returning to his well-worn theme for Gravesend to become full-time in order to compete with the best in the Nationwide Conference.

He warned that the club risked failing to fulfil its potential unless it made the move and said: "The first thing the club's board of directors must decide is whether they go full-time next season.

"That's the big thing, that's the massive step they've got to take. Whether they can do it financially I don't know.

"But if they do take that step, whoever succeeds me will have a great chance of taking the club further.

"If you are part-time in the Conference, the best you can achieve is a mid-table position – and where you're a part-time club that's an achievement in itself.

"Crawley are a part-time club doing well at the moment. But they're a slightly bigger club than Gravesend with bigger crowds and I believe they will be going full-time shortly."