Phil Edghill steps up to replace Jon Robinson as Ramsbottom boss

PHIL EDGHILL has stepped up to replace Jon Robinson as Ramsbottom United manager after the boss quit on Monday night.

The struggling Rams have picked up just two points from their opening 11 Evo-Stik NPL Premier league games and suffered an early FA Cup exit against Buxton.

Robinson, a club legend who scored 107 goals in six seasons at Ramsbottom, replaced Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson in January after they moved to Salford City.

He helped secure the Rams’ Step 3 status but his first full season in charge hasn’t started the way he would have liked.

After he resigned on Monday night, the club confirmed his assistant Edghill, also a former Ramsbottom player, has been given the job for the rest of the season.

“It’s been very difficult to bring new players in to Ramsbottom United,” said Robinson. “When you’re bottom of the table you find that players are reluctant to join.

“Unfortunately Rammy has risen very quickly to this level, and doesn’t have the depth of off-field support and assistance that many Non-League clubs at this level have.

“Ultimately we have nothing to offer the lads we’ve been trying to sign all season, and so just can’t entice the players we need to help the club get results.

“I phoned the chairman tonight, after hearing rumours that he needed to speak to me, and after he refused to give me support in my position, I decided to resign as manager.”

Chairman Harry Williams added: “We gave Jon the job on the basis that he knew the club inside out, and he did what was asked for, having taken over in difficult circumstances in January, namely keeping the club in this league.

“But football is a results-based business, and after 12 games this season without a win, we felt we had to make that change.

“I prefer continuity, and Phil Edghill is another who knows how the club operates, and he will be given the opportunity to make the job his own. We still have three quarters of the season left, and hopefully Phil can turn things around.”