End of an era as Ricky leaves the Ives
St Ives Town Football Club can today announce that Ricky Marheineke has resigned from his position as first team manager.
Ricky has been instrumental in the growth and success of the club since he joined as manager in 2014. This included guiding the Ives to promotion to become an established Southern League Premier Division side; a position they remained at for a decade. He also guided the club to a history making FA Cup run as well as several successes in the Hunts Senior Cup. However, he has now made the decision to step aside.
Commenting on his departure Marheineke said “It’s a really sad day for me personally and it is with a heavy heart that I have made the decision to step down.
St Ives Town has been my life for 12 and a half years and what a journey it has been. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to manage this club for nearly 600 games and I leave with nothing but love and gratitude for everyone involved. Promotion via the play off final, York City away and Halifax at home in the FA Cup are among the highlights we have all got to experience together, memories that will stay with me forever.”
Marheineke added “To all the volunteers and people who work tirelessly behind the scenes, I thank you. You are the heartbeat of St Ives Town, and I want you to know how grateful I am for all your help and support over the years. I would like to thank all my staff, of which during my tenure there has been many. You have shown nothing but loyalty to me in the most challenging of conditions and your resilience and understanding of the club’s situation year on year is to be commended. To all the players that have been mad enough joining me at a club where failure was always a real possibility, together we have overcome that doubt and achieved the unthinkable. I appreciate it and thank you all. All good things do come to an end although I never wanted to believe that. With the challenges the club is currently facing off the pitch it is time for my chapter to end and a new one for the Football club to begin.”
Ives Co-Chairman Andrew Dunn said “Given the amount of time Ricky has been in the role, this really is an end of era, and whilst I understand the reasons for his resignation it saddens me that we are losing his services. However, he leaves St Ives Town as a legend. He has been the face of this football club for over a decade. Not only did he do a fantastic job at keeping the team at step three against the odds, but he also signed players who have benefited and progressed under his leadership and have now moved on to bigger and better things as a result. I thank him for everything he has done for this football club. He should know that he has many friends at St Ives Town, and he and his family will always be welcome at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.”
Assistant Manager Jim Freeman has also stepped down from his role and the club hope to be able to make an announcement on new interim managerial appointments in the coming days. However, the club is now accepting applications for the permanent role of first team manager. Applications should be received by Friday 18 September and CVs should be sent to [email protected].
