MARK Gee admitted the decision to step down as manager of North Leigh after 18 years was one of the toughest he has faced.

As one of the longest-standing managers in senior football, Gee claimed three Hellenic League Premier Division titles with the Millers, also leading the club into the Southern League for the first time.

And it was with a heavy heart he finally tendered his resignation last week.

He said: “It’s not a decision I took lightly, I thought long and hard about it.

“But it was one I made with the season ahead in mind, because I knew I had to give the chairman and the new manager enough time to build for next season.”

In eight campaigns in Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West, Gee’s side never finished outside the top ten.

However, they were unable to push on to the Premier Division and with mounting work commitments, Gee felt he would be unable to lead a promotion campaign.

“I just couldn’t dedicate enough time to do it,” he said.

“In the Southern League you can’t be finishing work at 6 and then taking a training session at 6.30 – you have to put more thought into it.

“I needed to be honest with myself and the club

“If you can’t give 100 per cent to the job, how can you expect your players to?”

Choosing a successor to the club’s most successful manager after almost two decades at the helm is a difficult decision for the North Leigh hierarchy.

But the former boss is still on hand to help the west Oxfordshire club choose the right man.

“I’ve spoken to the chairman just this week about the future,” he said.

“He was worried there wouldn’t be any interest in the position, but he’s had a lot of applications, so he called to ask my opinion of some of the applicants.

“It’s a big job and would be perfect for a young, ambitious manager to take the club forward.”

Chairman Pete King, the man charged with finding replacements for Gee and long-serving assistant Terry Merriman, was quick to pay tribute to the pair.

He said: “I would like to thank them both for all their hard work over many years in developing the club from a small village team going nowhere to the tier of football we are in now.

“He did a marvellous job.

“When he came in we were going nowhere in the Hellenic League and 18 years later he has kept us in the top ten of the Southern League, unfortunately just missing out on the play-offs on a couple of occasions.”