STEVE LANDS ON HIS FLEET!

STEVE Claridge is looking to rediscover his love for football after nine months of professional pain and personal sadness by returning to his roots

- Neil Harvey

The former Premier League striker and Weymouth and Salisbury manager has accepted an offer from his friend, Iain Sellstrom, chairman of Wessex League Division One outfit Fleetlands, to get back into management in an attempt to get his mojo back.

“It’s been a tough time, I have to admit,” said Claridge. “I lost the Salisbury job in, shall we say, unpleasant circumstances, and then my father died not long after. I was really hurting and needed a break from the game.

“At first when Iain phoned me to ask if I fancied coming and helping him out in some capacity, I wasn’t sure I wanted to move down to that level. He said I could take whatever role suited me – manager, director of football.

“Then I started to think about it and when I met with him and other people at the club, and saw what lovely people they were, it made a lot of sense.”

“I have been contacted about bigger jobs but the first thing was that I needed to stay local at this particular time without a lot of travel to training and games,” added the former Leicester City striker, who began his career with Portsmouth.