ERITH & BELVEDERE can confirm that Danny Murphy and Marlon Patterson have been appointed as joint-managers of the Deres as we promote from within.

The board are extremely happy that both Danny and Marlon have accepted the role after showing a keen interest to take the reins. In a transitional period for the club, we feel that stability is needed and the professionalism and enthusiasm they bring to the club will drive it forward.

Both Danny and Marlon have had extensive playing careers both professionally and in non-league; Danny is an exceptional coach and Marlon just making the transition from playing to coaching, a development which the club will support.

Danny made 24 appearances for Queen's Park Rangers from 2000-03. He subsequently played for Margate in England and for Motherwell and Dunfermline Athletic in Scotland, but his biggest successes were in Ireland, where he made some 230 league appearances in three spells with Cork City, winning the League of Ireland title in 2005, and won the League again with Shamrock Rovers in 2010. He was an Irish u-17 international and played for a League of Ireland representative team.

Marlon is well known in non-league football, most recently as captain/player/coach of Erith and Belvedere FC last season; his previous clubs include Fisher, Chelmsford City, Bromley and Dagenham & Redbridge where he made his professional debut.

Both have great ideas on how to move the club forward to make us a competitive team and start challenging for honours again, which is a glowing testament to both. They share the club's values on and off the playing field, and we are looking forward to seeing an exciting team in the coming weeks.

The hard work starts now with pre-season training commencing on 22 June and a full pre-season schedule to follow. We can't wait for the new season.

We would also like to thank everyone who has shown a keen interest in the managers role. We had no fewer than 40 people come forward for the job, but after an internal discussion we felt that we already had the right men for the job at the club, and felt it would be unfair to waste anyone's time with an interview process. But we are very appreciative of the interest shown.