ECCLESHILL United are on the lookout for a new first-team manager to take them into a new era.

The Eagles and the Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy (RIASA) have decided to go their separate ways, and current head coach Gerard Jones is not remaining in charge at Plumpton Park.

Eccleshill’s football club chairman Adrian Benson made the announcement today and he also stated that the club were inviting applications for the role of manager.

Benson said: “I think these are exciting times at the club as we look for a return to traditional values after a very good and successful five-year partnership with Mark Ellis and his RIASA programme.

“Going forward we will no longer have a direct connection with them although we will remain on very good terms. We are embarking on different paths but both parties are keen to maintain the strong link.

“Gerard came to us as a RIASA coach and he is leaving us to pursue other interests but he goes with our thanks and best wishes. I would like to say that it’s been a pleasure working alongside him and we will continue to follow his career closely.”

The partnership between the club and Mark Ellis’ academy has lasted over five years and the previous season, 2013/14, was the most successful. Under former Bradford City midfielder Lee Duxbury, who also worked for RIASA at the time, the Eagles finished fourth in the Toolstation Northern Counties East Division One, were beaten finalists in the League Cup and lifted the West Riding County Cup after a 1-0 win over Conference North outfit Harrogate Town at Valley Parade.

This season has been an anti-climax after those heady days and Jones was the second boss at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium this term. The Eagles began the campaign under a triumvirate power axis of David Cope, Mark Tinker and Martin Devaney.

Cope soon departed and first-team head coach Tinker resigned at the end of November last year due to personal reasons and his assistant Devaney decided that as they had come as a pair he would also leave.

Jones came in and did a good job but the club ended the season in a disappointing 13th place. The low placing means they missed out on qualification for next season’s FA Cup.

Benson added: “The club is in a very different position now than it was in the pre-RIASA days. Our partnership with them led to immense improvements to the pitch and the ground and we are very stable off the field.

“Eccleshill United is on a very firm footing and I believe we have a lot to offer as a club and that there is plenty of potential here. We are a good prospect for a good manager with local knowledge and widespread connections and contacts.

“We are casting the net to see who is interested in a very good opportunity. We certainly won’t find anyone as enthusiastic as Gerard but we hope to appoint someone as committed and determined but hopefully who has experience of managing at this level.

“We are looking at possible candidates who have experience in the NCE, the leagues above and the leagues just below.”

Potential applicants are asked to send their CV via e-mail to Adrian Benson adrian.benson@btinternet.com