With all the current bad news around and the postponement of football, some very sad news has been announced that puts the whole of the crisis into a certain amount of perspective.

It was announced on Sunday afternoon that former owner and manager of Ashford Town, Tim Thorogood, has sadly passed away.

Thorogood took the Homelands club over from John Gurney in 2001, and became manager in March that year, and remained in charge until August 2004 when Terry Fenwick took over.  Thorogood himself then replaced Fenwick’s successor Tony Reynolds for a second spell the following January and was in charge again until November 2006 – which included a spell in joint charge with John Cumberbatch.

Overall, of a total of just over 200 League games in charge, there were just under 70 wins which sadly highlighted a dark period of time for the club.

In terms of stats, Tim appointed himself as manager on 11th March 2001, he remained in the post until 21st Aug 2004, when Tony Reynolds was appointed, but only for three matches as Terry Fenwick took over. His spell in charge lasted until the turn of the year after he was sacked and once again Tim Thorogood took over on 2nd January 2005. At the start of the following season 05-06, Tim and John Cumberbatch became joint managers until November 30th 2006 when Tim stepped back which left Cumberbatch as sole manager.

Overall Tim was sole manager for 186 matches and then a further 70 when joint manager. Of his 186 games in sole charge , 163 were league matches of which there were 55 wins, 32 draws and 76 defeats, then jointly 58 league matches comprising 12 wins,13 draws and 33 defeats.

Ernie Warren who was the clubs General Manager when Thorogood took over is quoted on the Ashford United website remembering the former owner in glowing terms.  He said, ““Tim was a fantastic bloke. He came into the club and did a lot of refurbishment work around Homelands…  …fans will certainly remember his sons Joff and Joby playing for us, and his assistant manager Gary Anderson during his spell as manager…”

Ashford legend Adrian Stone, who signed for Thorogood for first spell at Homelands, was left stunned by the news of the loss of his former manager.  He is also quoted on the AUFC website, and said, ““I cannot believe the news. He brought me to the club when I was just 17 years old and gave me my first job when I left school so that I could play for Ashford. I knew his family, his kids and his wife as I used to go to his house before games. He had a lot of time for me and I had a lot for him. My heart goes out to his family!”

KSN would like to join the Kent football family in sending our condolences to Tim’s family and friends in this difficult period.