Coyle Excited For Gate Chapter

New Assistant Manager Jamie Coyle arrives at Hartsdown Park with bags of experience. Both as a coach and manager, Coyle’s career speaks for itself, so it won’t come as a surprise to Margate supporters to discover why Manager Jay Saunders was so keen to reunite with his former colleague for the 2020/21 campaign.

Coyle and Saunders have successfully worked together at Maidstone United, enjoying a time envied by many football fans across the county. For Coyle, the opportunity to build something special again with Saunders, was a chance he couldn’t turn down.

“I have maintained contact with Jay since moving into management after leaving Maidstone as player/coach. We have always had a good working relationship on and off the pitch and I was thrilled when he rang to offer me the opportunity to work with him again, at a club that has huge potential moving forward.”

That potential was something that proved another contributing factor for Coyle who knows only too well the appetite for footballing success in Thanet.

“Margate has always been a huge club in Kent with a great following of fans. Behind the scenes, the club seems very ambitious with the recent development plans and I’m really excited to be a part of it moving forward.”

Coyle knows the Kent circuit only too well as his career has taken him across the county, where promotions have always tended to follow suit.

“My playing career started at Crystal Palace FC as a youngster before moving into non-league where I was fortunate enough to gain promotions with Gravesend and Northfleet, Dartford, Leatherhead and Maidstone United.”

“I have always enjoyed the coaching side of the game so completed my UEFA A licence when I was still playing for Dartford FC and started working as a FA tutor in Kent at the same time. I was part of the management team at Leatherhead and Maidstone whilst still playing and was appointed player/manager of Welling United in the 2017 season before moving across to Dartford the season after.”

Such coaching experience will prove invaluable as Coyle explains his approach to taking up the assistant role in Saunders team of staff.

“I think all assistant managers understand the need to support the stresses that go with managing a football club at all levels but to bring some new ideas to training sessions and support the develop of the talented bunch of players that have already committed to the club, which in turn will hopefully help the club be successful.”

Coyle added, “Jay and I have had great success working together previously and I understand what his expectations are for both the players and his staff. So I’m hoping I can support this and help push the club forward.”

As attention turns to the new season, Coyle is already an integral part of preparations for the campaign and revealed:

“There are some areas that Jay and I have discussed that need to be improved from last season but there are a number of players who are still young and are continuing to improve. If we get the right balance of experience and youthfulness, I’m sure we can improve on last season.”

Like many players and supporters across the country, Coyle is counting down to when football may return. With a new season comes new opportunity at HDP, and with football absent for so long, even the prospect of pre-season isn’t quite so bad!

“I’m really looking forward to getting back to normality and meeting the boys for pre-season. I have played and coached some of the boys before including Swifty, Jack Richards, Jay Porter and Prezza. So, it will be great to work with them again and meet the other lads too.”

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