Glen Alzapiedi quits Cheshunt after ‘abuse’ from club owner

GLEN ALZAPIEDI quit Cheshunt on Saturday morning after claiming club owner Lee Williamson abused him over team selection.

The former Ware, Waltham Abbey, Canvey Island and Harlow Town manager quit before the weekend’s game against Soham Town Rangers in the Ryman North.

He claims the owner got in touch after finding out his son Glenn Williamson would not be playing in goal and “texted me and abused me”.

Alzapiedi, who has since joined Concord Rangers as assistant manager, told the Hertfordshire Mercury: “I’m certainly not going to be at a club where the owner thinks he can influence me to pick the team.

“If that club wants to progress they need to leave their managers alone and let them get on with it, because they’re going through far too many managers there. There’s a common thread there.”

However, Ambers chairman Dean Williamson, the brother of keeper Glenn and son of owner Lee, said suggestions of selection interference were wide of the mark.

Chairman Dean Williamson said: “I’ve had the opportunity to now speak with Glen and I’m told that it’s the manner in which an opinion was expressed to him by the club owner that has led him to leave. This is the second time that Glen has tendered his resignation to me, both for different reasons, and I’m disappointed.

“There also seems to be a misconception that we influence the team selection, which is simply not the case and something that I take very personally. My influence is on what happens off the pitch, not on it, and it’s clear for everyone to see the great leaps this club has taken in the last four years.

“In the grand scheme of where this club is heading and the plans that are in place, today is a minor but unfortunate blip. I wish Glen well for the future.”

Alzapiedi’s assistant Paul Wickenden has been named his successor after earning a point against Soham on Saturday.