First team coach Steve Lovell has been shown the door by Gillingham Football Club.

The popular former striker has been told he is surplus to requirements by manager Justin Edinburgh following the club missing out on the League One play-offs.

Lovell is the latest high profile name to be leaving The Gills following their ninth place finish with Glenn Morris, Doug Loft, Brennan Dickenson and Jermaine McGlashan all told they won’t be offered new contracts.

Manager Justin Edinburgh however has had nothing but praise for Lovell with the pair having spent the past fifteen months working together:

“Steve has been an integral part of the coaching team, and I would like to thank him for his dedicated work since I joined the club,” said Edinburgh.

“It goes without saying that I’d like to wish him the best of luck for the future.”

Lovell was part of the four man management team that took over the running of the club following Peter Taylor’s sacking, working alongside Andy Hessenthaler, Darren Hare and Mark Patterson.

He was instrumental in helping bring Edinburgh to Priestfield and after an almost twenty year association with The Gills, is not looking for a career in football elsewhere.

Also leaving the club is first-team performance analyst Nick Gearing, who spent a year-and-a-half in the role working alongside the club’s management.

Picture supplied by Sarah Ansell Photography.