Bull takes over at Green as Smith steps down

Smith had been in charge of the Maroons for six years, but has decided the time is right to spend more time with his family.

Taking over in 2011, Smith led the club to the Bedfordshire Senior Trophy final, losing 1-0 to Ampthill Town, but did win the SSML Division One Cup, beating Kings Langley 2-1 with strikes from Courtney Massey and Chris Gibson.

Two years later, Green reached the final of the Beds Senior Trophy once more, but despite leading 2-0 through Sean Downey and Jon Butler strikes, conceded three times in the last five minutes to lose 3-2 to Bedford.

In 2015, Smith finally got his hands on the Trophy when Crawley beat AFC Oakley M&DH 4-0 with goals from Sean Bishop, Stuart Strange, Tom Barnett and Sam Halfpenny.

The following campaign was his most successful season as Crawley finished runners-up in Division One and were promoted to the Premier Division, while also winning the Division One League Cup beating Edgware Town 2-1 with Fabio Buffano and Aarron Browne on target.

Last year, Smith saw Green finish a creditable 11th in the table as a club statement said: “Crawley Green would like to sincerely thank Mark for his magnificent contribution to the club’s development over the last six seasons.

“We wish him all the very best for the future.”

Meanwhile, Bull has assisted Smith for the last three seasons after the departure of Terry Shrieves and was immediately offered the role which he duly accepted.

He will be assisted by Richard Smith who has joined Crawley from Tring Athletic, while club stalwart Stuart Strange has also been added to the team and joins the long standing Bobby Males to complete Bull’s backroom staff.

Crawley Green Reserves will be managed by Jimmy Sherlock assisted by Richard McKinley and Ben Scott.