Gorleston FC have expressed 'regret' after their recently-appointed director of football Richard Daniels quit the club to take up a new challenge with Diss Town.
Daniels, who as joint-manager with Stuart Larter, masterminded Gorleston's Norfolk Senior Cup success at Carrow Road last season, has taken the helm at their Thurlow Nunn Premier Division rivals to fill a vacancy created when Robert Taylor resigned on the back of poor results and remarks which upset fans leading to an apology by the chairman on the club website.
The exit appears to have come as a surprise to the Greens who announced in a brief statement. 'It is with regret that Gorleston FC have to announce the departure of director of football Richard Daniels who has joined Diss as their first team manager. Richard joined us at the start of the 2009-10 season and has helped bring success to the club in winning promotion and the Norfolk Senior Cup. We would like to thank him and wish him all the best for the future. As a club we look forward to new challenges.'
When Daniels became joint -manager with six-times ECL title winner Larter last November he spoke of the adventure that lay ahead. But early last month, after discussions with new chairman Alan Gordon, Daniels announced he was stepping aside from the role 'for the good of the club' and concentrating on his duties as director of football and club vice-chairman. At Diss, 1994 FA Vase winners at Wembley, Daniels is being joined by assistant Jason Maher, who quit Long Melford at the end of June after 'much heartache and soul-searching' less than two months after leading the club into the Suffolk Senior Cup final where they lost 2-1 to Whitton at Portman Road.
Maher said: 'I have known Richard for two or three years and we have always got on well. We both said if a job came up half-way between us we could work together.'
He added: 'Diss is a massive club and it is a great opportunity for me. It is a proper football club, and although the club is in a relegation battle at the moment I am sure we will be able to turn it around.'
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