Former AFC Bournemouth striker Matt Tubbs leaves Bashley for Poole Town
BASHLEY’S ambitions for another successful season in the Southern League Division One (South) have suffered a setback with manager Matt Tubbs leaving for Poole Town.
Tubbs, who took over from Paul Morris at the GlenMex Stadium last November, guided Bashley to within a whisker of a promotion chance last season when the club was edged out of a play-off place in the final 45 minutes of the season.
And despite setbacks in the past two games – mainly through outside factors beyond the club’s control – the scene is set for another tilt at promotion this season.
Bashley chairman Paul Lucas said: “It’s always going to be a problem when you have a bright and ambitious young manager, who is clearly going to be successful in the future and probably at a higher level.
“People are going to take notice, and I knew clubs from higher divisions were admiring how Matt has gone about things here and how he has put us on the pathway for success.
“So while we are obviously disappointed, we perhaps knew this day would come – although ideally, not as soon as this.
“We knew that Poole, in particular, had earmarked Matt some time ago and decided that if ever they decided on a change, he would be their main target.
“In fairness to Matt, he came to me and told me he now had this opportunity. Clearly, I would much rather he stayed with us and saw the job through with promotion for Bashley this season.
“However, we’ve had – and still will have – an excellent relationship, and I told Matt that if he wanted to take the move for the sake of his management career, we would not stand in his way.”
At Poole, he will replace the long-serving Tom Killick, relieved of his duties this week after 20 years and 975 games at the helm.
After the move, former AFC Bournemouth player Matt Tubbs said: “This was a really tough decision for me. I have a terrific relationship with everyone at Bashley: the players, staff, fans and, of course, the chairman.
“I realise the hole this is going to leave for Paul to fill with virtually no notice, but he has been very gracious about it.
“Of course, he left me in no doubt that he would prefer me to stay, but also agreed that this is a career opening for me to go up one division immediately and to a club equally ambitious as Bashley to climb higher still.
“It will certainly be a wrench to leave without completing the success I was hoping to help the club achieve here, and I can only thank Bashley for all the good times and wish them the very best of luck in their quest for promotion.”
Bashley assistant manager Leon Scott and goalkeeping coach Mark Phillips will join Matt Tubbs at Poole.
With the League season still in its infancy, Bashley has to work fast to fill these gaps and is likely to appoint an interim manager while they search for a long-term successor.
