Ashley Taylor has left Doddington United to become manager of Fen rivals Chatteris Town.

The 28 year-old, who led Doddington to consecutive promotions and the Kershaw Senior B title, will be assisted by Andy Moye.

Jock Bedford has taken over the reserves, with Lester Kent becoming the club’s director of football.

Both sides will ply their trade in Kershaw Senior A next season.

Taylor says leaving Doddington is a “difficult” decision, but the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps and manage his home town club is too big to turn down.

He said: “It was difficult to leave. Doddington has been great for me. They have a great chairman, a great secretary and the players have been superb. We’ve taken the club to the highest point in its history and I leave with some good memories.

“Whoever takes over at Doddington will have a great bunch of players. I’m not going to take all the players with me to Chatteris and leave them in a mess.

“I’m a Chatteris lad. I was brought up watching my dad manage the club. With the facilities here and the committee in place, the potential of this club is so much greater than Doddington.”

Taylor, who played for Chatteris until injury curtailed his career at 21, has his sights set on winning the league.

He said: “I’m not looking to change too much. I’ll bring a few players in but nothing too drastic. We’re focusing on the reserves as a pathway for the young players to the first team.

“It will take a lot of hard work, but our aim is simply to win the league. We can be just as big a club as March Town and I want to take the club back to that level.”

Chairman Julian Young says the appointment of Taylor is “exciting” for the club as they look to push on from this season’s fourth place finish.

He said: “Privately we’ve known for a while that Jock and Lester were not looking to continue long term as joint managers so the idea came about to bring in a young, vibrant manager with great coaching qualifications to work with our talented players.

“He’s a Chatteris lad and, with his two promotions, he’ll bring a winning mentality. He is an ideal replacement. It’s an exciting time.

“I feel sorry for any club that loses their manager but Ashley is his own man and he felt this is the right thing for him to do.”

Doddington secretary Kevin Casbon said: “He’s had two good seasons with us. We’re pleased with what he’s done for the club and we wish him well in the future.

“We understand his reasons for leaving. Doddington is probably nearly as high as you can go for a village club, while Chatteris has a lot of levels it can go to. They have a better ground and more financial backing.

“We’ll be meeting next week and would like to get somebody in place sooner rather than later so the players feel more settled.”

If you would like to apply for the manager’s post at Doddington United, call Kevin on 07798 610791.