Gosport chairman: It wasn't easy decision to sack Pike

Alex Pike has been sacked as Gosport Borough manager. Picture: Malcolm Wells

But the club’s chairman believes he had to do it for the ‘greater good.’

Borough are on the hunt for a new manager after axeing long-time boss Pike yesterday.

Pike spent 12 years at Privett Park and brought unprecedented success to the club.

Borough rose from the Wessex League to National League South and also reached the FA Trophy final at Wembley in 2014.

The last two seasons, however, have been blighted by financial problems and relegation back to Southern League premier.

This campaign started badly for Pike with Borough yet to pick up a single point after seven games.

The last straw for chairman Sellstrom came after Borough’s 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Swindon Supermarine on Saturday.

He said: ‘Sacking Alex is undoubtedly the most difficult thing I have had to do in my relatively short time as a football chairman.

‘You can’t hide from the fact that he is the best manager Gosport have ever had.

‘He brought great success and cares passionately about the club.

‘Sometimes, though, you have to do what is best for the greater good.

‘The club has had deep-rooted problems for the past couple of years.

‘Though the start to this season hasn’t been great, the difficulties have been three years in the making.

‘The infrastructure of the club was not in place and they stretched themselves financially.

‘They didn’t have the budget to cope.

‘Apart from that, there was bad feeling and a lack of cohesion within the club.

‘It was time for a change in order to freshen things up.’

Assistant manager Danny Thompson will take charge in the short term but Sellstrom is hoping to appoint a new manager as soon as possibly.

He accepts the club’s current situation won’t make it easy to attract a new boss but he’s had a number of individuals already expressing interest in the role.

Sellstrom added: ‘We are looking for someone to come in who recognises the long-term potential of the club.

‘That person will have to stabilise what is happening on the pitch and help us through this difficult period.

‘Though we want to get them in as quickly as possible it has to be the right person.’