Robson reunited with Rams

Robson, pictured, was unveiled on Tuesday as the successor to Andy Neal at the EVO-STIK League Southern Central Division club having previously taken the Rams up into the Ryman League during the 1980s.

The highly experienced coach is well known and respected in the Non League game across Hampshire and Sussex after a long managerial career that has seen him take the helm at Gosport Borough, Winchester City, Andover Town, Blackfield and Langley, Worthing and Dover.

Robson, who is now looking forward to taking charge of his second-from-bottom side at Kidlington in the league on Saturday, is delighted to be back at Love Lane and is already targeting more than survival.

In a statement announcing his appointment, he told Rams supporters: “It’s good to be back in football and at a club which is near enough to home for me to walk to. I am happy to be here and I am happy and grateful to have been asked to be manager of this football club.

“I have some great memories of my first spell in charge at Petersfield and hopefully we can create some more this time around as well. I have got a lot of respect for what a friend of mine, Ian Saunders, did in his time as manager here and I hope to maintain the status at the level he got this club to.

"My target is to definitely stay in the league and improve on where we currently are and then I would like to go on and try and get us to the next level. I would ask the supporters to give us two or three weeks to look at things and see what we have already in place, and then we will look to improve what we have already in the club and bring in any extra resources we need.”

Petersfield Town chairman Graeme Moir believes Robson will help them climb away from trouble and soon see the club building for the future.

Moir said: “I’m really pleased we have got John on board and I am fully confident we will now move away from the bottom end of the table. John is vastly experienced and everyone I have spoken to about him has nothing but praise for what he has achieved in Non-League football and his credentials for taking on the manager’s role here at Petersfield.

“He is exactly the candidate we were looking for – vastly experienced and well connected so he can make a real difference to our current situation and also take us forward in the future. In many ways he is similar to our former manager Ian Saunders – when you sit down and talk to John about football he knows the game inside out. There is no player, coach or chairman John does not know about and his contacts within the game are extensive.

“However, John is his own man and will do things his way. He wants to look at the players we have currently in the squad and assess their ability before rushing out and getting anyone else in. I am sure the committee, players, coaching staff, volunteers and supporters at Petersfield will give John a warm welcome back to Love Lane."

He added: “I have only spent a few hours in John’s company so far but he comes across as a man who loves the game and his enthusiasm is fantastic. I have no doubt that John will prove to be a popular appointment here and everyone will support him in getting this club moving in the right direction again.”

Image courtesy of Petersfield Town

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