Carruthers explains Matlock departure
Departing Matlock Town boss Martin Carruthers says the disappointment of underachieving led to his decision to leave the Gladiators.
Carruthers informed chairman Jay Beaumont of his decision to resign on Monday in the wake of a heavy 5-1 home defeat to Whitby Town on Saturday and having gained only three league victories in 2024.
Matlock currently lie in 17th spot in the table, needing two more points from their remaining eight matches to confirm their spot in the NPL top tier for 2024/25.
Last season, Matlock made it to the play-offs for the second season running and in Carruthers’ first season in charge, having been appointed in the previous December, and it was easy to recognise the pain and disappointment he felt as he said his goodbyes on Monday.
He said: “The way the season’s panned out is certainly not the way we envisaged it at the start of the season. After the great success of last season - who can forget the memorable day at Marine on the last day of the season when we managed to get into the play-offs - it’ll be a memory that will remain with me forever.
"Unfortunately this season’s not lived up to our expectations and for whatever reason we’ve performed well below the standards expected. Sometimes you need to change, I only want what’s best for this football club, a fantastic football club with fantastic supporters and I leave with fond memories.”
Carruthers says he has met some brilliant people at the club and he will miss the friends he has made at Matlock.
He said: “I’ve always had a great relationship with Jay and the people at the club who made us feel so welcome all of the time. I wanted to do so well for everyone at the club and unfortunately it just didn’t work out, I have deep regrets that we didn’t perform as well as we should have done and get the best out of the players we had available.
"I met some fantastic people , I’ll always go back and share a drink or two with some good people who I’ve met and return to Matlock if not to watch a game but managing against them in a game.
"A huge thank you to everyone at Matlock Town, I’m really sorry for a disappointing season, it’s not for the want of trying. I hope Matlock get the success they deserve next season and eventually get into National League North.”