Underwood insists decision to stand down was not a ‘knee jerk’ reaction

Jon Underwood has insisted that his and Neil Baker’s decision to stand down as Slough Town’s management team after nine and a half seasons in charge has nothing to do with the club’s recent poor form, but is very much ‘their’ decision and something they’ve been considering over a period of time.

Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Hungerford Town was the Rebels’ eight league match without a win, leaving the club three points above the relegation zone ahead of next Tuesday’s fixture at Farnborough, however. Underwood believes the time is right for someone new to be given the challenge of leading the club to even greater heights. Baker and Underwood took over nine-and-a-half seasons ago, with the club struggling to get out of step 4. With the help of some of their former players from Godalming Town, they led the club to promotion through the play-offs, before stabilising once again in the Southern Premier League. They then led the club into the National

League South after a famous play-off final win over King’s Lynn Town in May 2018. They’ve also led the club through two glorious runs to the second round of the FA Cup and have had the Rebels in the frame for promotion to the National League in recent seasons. Despite this success, they’ve also had to contend with budget constraints, impacting their ability to compete on an even footing for promotion, yet despite this they've remained competitive and – just over a month ago were again on the fringes of the play-off spots after an encouraging start to the 2022-23 seasons.

“We had made our minds up before Saturday, and even if we'd won 5-0 on Saturday, it wouldn't have changed anything. It’s certainly very much our decision. Things are tough financially. We have been restricted in what we can do, budget wise, it’s a tough league to compete in with what we have. That’s not a new thing, it’s been that way for a few years, and we’ve always had to work very hard to get the best from what we’ve got.

“I know we’ve reached a point where we’re both exhausted. We feel we’ve put everything into it. We were never going to manage the club forever, even though it might have felt like that to some people. This was always going to happen at some point.”

Underwood added that they would like to return to management as a pair but have nothing lined up at present.