Two friends appointed joint managers at Doddington United

TWO friends whose playing careers were prematurely ended by injury have taken the plunge into management at Doddington United FC.

Ashley Taylor, 26, and Oliver Salter-Boyden, 30, have been appointed co-managers of the Cambs League 1B outfit.

Taylor was a promising young player at Ely City and Chatteris Town but a hip injury forced him to retire at 21.

Doddington stalwart Salter-Boyden’s career was also cut short by an ankle injury.

Taylor has spent the last five years doing his coaching badges and he is excited about making his mark at the club.

He said: “I thought if I could not play I would still love to be involved in football.

“I’ve been doing my coaching badges, watching a lot of games and waiting for my opportunity.

“Oliver is a good friend of mine and we are excited about taking on this challenge.

“All the lads from last year bar two are sticking around, even though there has been interest from clubs in the higher leagues.

“They are a talented bunch of players with their feet firmly on the ground so we are not going to change too much.

“We’ll just add two or three good players who will improve the team.”

Taylor says the supporters can expect to watch free flowing football this season.

He said: “We will adopt an attacking mindset and play in the right play, although to do that you need to have a good structure in place.

“I’m not going to say we’ll definitely get promoted in our first season but we will try to do as well as we can.”

Taylor and Salter-Boyden will not have to wait long to get their tracksuits on, with pre-season training starting on July 2.