Rugby Town manager Dave Stringer’s five year spell at Butlin Road has ended by mutual consent, following a season when the club narrowly missed out on a place in the Southern League Central Division play-offs.

This conclusion was reached following an in-depth meeting last Friday, with Town Chairman Brian Melvin keen to recognise the contribution of the one-time Valley midfielder.

He said: “We had a long discussion with Dave, and it was agreed that it was time for a fresh approach and outlook from a managerial perspective, and hopefully the opportunity for a new challenge elsewhere for Dave too.

“Dave has worked hard for the club in his time here, and there are a lot of positives to be thankful for – especially in the two seasons in which we just missed out on being the division’s champions.

“However it’s probably is fair to say that the campaign which has just ended was a little disappointing as a whole, and whilst as a club we have always supported the concept of managerial continuity, we felt that now was the right time for a change.”

Stringer joined the management team at Town for the start of the 2010/11 season as assistant to Martin Sockett, before taking over the full reins a year later.

In his first season as manager Rugby ended up one place out of the play-off zone in sixth, and then went on to achieve consecutive runners-up spots in 2012/13 and 2013/14, before recording another sixth place finish this season.

The search has already started for Stringer’s replacement, with the Valley Chairman confirming that a number of applications had already been received.

He continued: “We’re hoping to have the new appointment sorted within the next couple of weeks, as it’s important that the incoming manager has as much time as possible to prepare for the new campaign."