IT’S SUDS LAW FOR OUTGOING MORSLEY
MARK MORSLEY has become the first managerial casualty of the Coronavirus outbreak after taking voluntary redundancy and stepping down as manager of AFC Sudbury.
The announcement came just 48 hours after Morsley warned that some Non-League clubs could go bust in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Morsley had led the Suffolk-based club to a healthy mid-table spot in BetVictor Isthmian North but paid the price just ten days into the league’s decision to suspend all football activity.
In a statement, the club explained: “It is with regret that the board of AFC Sudbury has today agreed the voluntary redundancy of first-team manager Mark Morsley.
“This comes in light of the completely unprecedented times that the world finds itself in at this moment. The great uncertainty over when the world of football will return to normal has been entirely responsible for this decision.
“Mark has been a wonderful servant to our club and instrumental in making the model which AFC Sudbury has created the envy of many.
“The board would like to record our thanks to Mark for his immense contribution and hope that he will stay on in some capacity to help us through the troubled times that all clubs currently face. And of course the good times that we hope will be just around the corner.”
Just two days earlier, however, Morsley told the East Anglian Daily Press how he feared the crisis could lead to some Non-League clubs going to the wall.
“Scary times are ahead,” he warned. “I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but I’ve been around Non-League football long enough to know how things are run, and I can see some clubs going bust in the next month or so.
“They work on strict budgets, with regards gate receipts, programmes, burgers, beers and alike, all on a matchto-match basis.
“Clubs now have no income, while they still have the potential liability of paying players.
“I can certainly see a situation where some clubs start going to the wall, there is a big danger of that happening.”