Tony Brown has quit Christchurch after the bombshell news that the club had appointed former Poole, Bashley and Brockenhurst boss Pete Moore as their new first-team manager.

Having jointly managed the club for nearly three seasons, Brown assumed he would retain that title following the departure of co-boss Nigel Cripps, who stepped down on Saturday for personal reasons.

But, much to his surprise, Brown was informed yesterday morning that Moore had been appointed the out-and-out number one, relegating him to the role of assistant.

Brown, who has spent six and half years at Hurn Bridge, said: "Pete's a good friend of mine, we used to go to school together, but there's no way I will accept being his assistant.

"I might be a nice, unassuming guy, but I'm not an idiot and this is not the right way of doing things.

"Maybe they thought I'd just quietly accept the assistant's post, but what message does it send out? It suggests the club didn't trust me to do the manager's job.

"I feel deeply hurt. I've pulled lots of players in over the years and I've never taken a penny out of the club for phone calls or anything and now it's all been for nothing.

"I'm so gutted.

"There's no way I ever wanted to go anywhere but Christchurch, it's my sort of club and I thought they'd have to carry me out of there in a coffin."