On the day that Steve Pitt was announced as the new man in charge of FC Clacton, he spoke to the FC Clacton website of his delight in succeeding David Coyle and is already looking forward to the challenge ahead.

"I am really pleased to have been offered this chance to manage FC Clacton and cannot wait until the season starts.

"When I was first made aware that David Coyle had resigned, I took a look at the club's website and the forum and saw what the club was about and within 24 hours, I met Stephen (Andrews) and David (Ballard) and was really impressed with what they had to say about the club and how they wanted to move forward in next seasons Ridgeons Premier Division.  Their ambitions met my own and I knew pretty much straight away that I wanted the job".

Steve, who lives in Danbury, has an illustrious CV at non-league level and was Manager of Wivenhoe Town in their healthier days of recent years during the period from 2003 to 2007 where he worked with another ex-Seasider.

"I was Manager at Wivenhoe when we reached the play-off semi-final in 2005 and then the play-off final in 2006 when we lost 2-1 to Stamford as we aimed for a place in the Southern League.  I had Paul Hillier in my side then and when he left to come back to Clacton, we remained in touch with one another ever since and he obviously made me aware of the fact that the club was looking for a new Manager too".

After leaving Wivenhoe, Steve then took up a role as Director of Football at Heybridge Swifts working with Brian Statham when the club played in the Ryman Premier League - step two of the non-league pyramid.  It was during this spell that Steve recalled one of his greatest achievements in the game.

"We finished 12th in the league in 2007/08 but had to endure a number of cuts in the playing budget.  Despite this, we still had a good season and competed and did very well to finish as high as we did".

His reign at Heybridge lasted a year before he left to join Colchester United to work under Paul Dyer as the clubs' non-league scout.  When Paul Lambert joined the U's, he scrapped the non-league scouting system and Steve was out of a job until he returned to Heybridge as assistant to Wayne Bond in 2009 but this role only lasted three months.

Whilst at Heybridge, the club had a link-up in place with Wivenhoe and the Colne Football College and it was at the latter where Steve teamed up with Michael Pulford and Phil Coleman and now the three have arrived together at the Rush Green Bowl as a new chapter for the club begins and Steve is already making plans for the new season.

"I think with the nucleus of players remaining with the club from last season and the ones I have in mind to bring to the club too, we hope to make a good account of ourselves in the Ridgeons Premier Division.  I will be looking to line-up some quality pre-season friendlies and am really looking forward to working with some very dedicated people at the club".   

Former Wivenhoe Town boss and Heybridge Swifts Director of Football Steve Pitt has today been announced as the new Manager of FC Clacton.  A club statement released today by Stephen Andrews and Dave Ballard reads as follows:

"We are delighted to announce the appointment of Steve Pitt as 1^st team manager, with immediate effect. From all the excellent applications we received, Steve’s stood out and after several chats with him we were even more convinced he is the right man for the job. 

"He has an impressive CV, being successful at a higher level than we currently play at, considerable experience and an obvious passion for the game. We also felt he was someone we can work with and build the long term relationship we are looking for. 

"Steve will be joined by Michael Pulford as his assistant and Phil Coleman as 1^st Team coach. These are two excellent, well respected and very experienced coaches we know a lot about through their work at the Colne Football College. Both have an impressive track record, especially with younger players and this is an area we have stressed to the new manager we place great emphasis upon. This is also something we aim to utilise in future years as our Youth Section moves to an Academy set up.

"We are genuinely excited by this appointment. The number of references we sought in respect of Steve merely endorsed our own opinions that Steve would be the right man to take us on to our next challenge.  Making the step up a league will be challenging but we are now very confident of having the best possible management team in place and cannot wait for the new season to start!"