Boss Mark Hume departs NPL Premier side Matlock Town

MARK HUME has departed Matlock Town after a disappointing end to their Evo-Stik NPL Premier campaign saw them finish 17th.

The 36-year-old took charge at the Gladiators in January 2015, replacing Martin Foster and Dave Rushbury, and led the club to safety at the end of the 2014-15 campaign.

They also won the Derbyshire Senior Cup with a 7-0 thrashing of Gresley but Hume’s first full season in charge failed to build on that success.

Despite a promising start, a run of two wins in 16 league games meant the Gladiators were left looking over their shoulder and they eventually finished 17th and seven points clear of the relegation places.

Following a meeting of the club’s committee on Monday night, Hume left the club by “mutual consent” and Matlock have now started the search for his successor.

Chairman Tom Wright said: “Mark came in and did really well keeping us in the division and winning the Derbyshire Senior Cup in 2014-15.

“This season started promisingly but since Christmas people felt we had not made the progress we would have liked and two wins in 16 league matches, both against the relegated bottom club is obviously not good enough.

“These kinds of decisions are never easy nor nice to make. I’d like to thank Mark and his staff for all of their hard work and wish them all the best in their future careers.”

Hume told the Matlock Mercury: “I’m a bit disappointed in the timing as it’s a big time between the end of the season and where we are now and I’ve been making lots of plans for the next campaign. I feel if this was going to happen then it could have been done right at the end of the season.

“Admittedly we’ve had a poor run of form in the second half of the season but with the budget I was working with I feel the league position was about right.”