Beckingham is back on board

Beckingham succeeds Kevin Horlock, pictured below, who was appointed in November 2015 before leaving in April after the club's fourth from bottom finish to the Ryman South campaign, having won 13 and drawn seven of his 46 games last term.

The new Chats manager, who will be assisted by Darren Anslow, was joint-manager with Clive Cook at Hythe Town last season before Cook took sole charge at the Reachfields Stadium and guided the Cannons to a fourth-placed finish.

In a statement welcoming Beckingham to the Maidstone Road hot-seat on Thursday, officials confirmed that current assistant manager and physio Terry Groom would be staying on in his current role next season. George Howard, Beckingham's goalkeeping coach at Ryman North Phoenix, has also joined the Chats.

Chatham Town's director of football Steve Binks said: “We are delighted to announce that Tony Beckingham has been appointed as the new first team manager, with Darren Anslow as his assistant. We would all like to express a very warm welcome to the new management team and wish them every success over the coming seasons."

Binks added that Beckingham's first priority would be to meet the current playing squad, as well as arranging Chatham's pre-season schedule.

"I am really excited about this appointment and we've had several approaches for our players so hopefully Tony will speak to them as soon as possible so he knows where he stands," he said.

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