ABERYSTWYTH Town player-boss Gary Finley has left the club less than
a fortnight before the start of the new Welsh Premier League season.

The club has agreed to part company with the central defender by
mutual consent and must now begin the search for a new manager ahead
of the new campaign.

Aberystwyth officials met with Finley in his home town of Liverpool
on Monday and the board members were due to discuss a possible
replacement last night (Tuesday).

An official statement read by club director David Hinton-Jones
confirmed: "Aberystwyth Town FC and manager Gary Finley have agreed
to part company by mutual consent. Having achieved European
qualification for the club, Gary now considers that the time is
right for a new challenge.

"The club wishes to thank Gary for his service over the past five
years, both as a player and a manager. His record as manager of
Aberystwyth Town in the Welsh Premier is second to none, having
achieved the club's highest position of fourth for the past two
seasons.

"We wish Gary Finley all the best for his future career in football
management."

Finley spent most of his playing career in north England, playing in
the Unibond League at Marine before moving to Warrington and
Netherfield.

He then had a spell at Doncaster Rovers as a professional before
representing Hyde United, and then League of Wales club Conwy United
under manager Stan Allen in 1998.

Finley joined Aberystwyth as a player in 2000 when Barry Powell was
manager before taking charge of the club in November 2001 following
the resignation of Frank Gregan.

Aber just missed out on a FAW Premier Cup place in 2002, ending in
ninth position, which was nevertheless just seven points adrift of
the Uefa Cup place claimed by Caersws.

In his first full season in charge, the Seasiders achieved an FAW
Premier Cup place by finishing in fourth position, but it was not
enough to qualify for Europe that season.

Finley succeeded in his second attempt at getting the club into the
Europe last season, this time finishing fourth and challenging for
the Welsh Premier title until Christmas.

Despite showing plenty of promise by achieving a goalless draw in
their Intertoto Cup home leg against FC Dinaburg, Aber slumped to a
4-0 defeat in Latvia.

A two-week holiday abroad has meant that Finley missed the start of
their delayed pre-season and he was a notable absentee at their only
friendly match so far at Bala Town.

Assistant manager Marc Lloyd-Williams and coach Gavin Allen took
charge of the team and will play key roles against Penrhyncoch
tonight (Wednesday) and Goytre at Park Avenue on Saturday.

The club have also arranged a friendly at Cyrmru Alliance side
Llangefni Town next Tuesday, before they start their Welsh Premier
campaign at Port Talbot on 14 August.

While the club were refusing to speculate on a permanent position
until after their board meeting on Tuesday, defender Dave Burrows
has been linked to vacant managerial post.

The South Walian joined Aberystwyth from Haverfordwest in 2001 and
has since been a model of consistency at the club, having also
played for Carmarthen and Cwmbran.

Another name in the running could be former Newtown manager Brian
Coyne, who is currently at Cwmbran Town. The Seasiders approached
Coyne following the resignation of Barry Powell in 2001 but he chose
to Latham Park.

Copyright Tindle Newspapers Ltd 04 August 04
(Note: Aber defeated Bala 2-1)

Ali