LYME Regis stalwart Tim Edwards is the Seasiders’ new boss after stepping up from his role as assistant-manager last season.

Edwards, who has served the club for 20 years, succeeds Karl Diment in the hot seat with Rob Thom his second in command.

The management team are due to welcome the players back for pre-season training on July 4 with a couple of familiar faces returning to the fold.

Joe Bond, Mark Batey and Aaron Cleal are all back after time away last term, however, Dom Rowe (travelling) and Will Mow-bray (university) won’t be available next season.

As for the long-serving Edwards, his aim is to build on Lyme’s second place finish in the Perry Street Premier League under Diment last season while also adding a couple of cups to the club’s trophy cabinet.

“We are looking to be there or thereabouts in the league and to get a bit closer to Winsham as well as picking up one or two more trophies,” he said.

“We’ve got a fairly settled squad from last season and Joe Bond coming back is a massive boost because he scored over 30 goals the year before he went travelling.

“Hopefully we’ll look to try and bring a couple of players in and strengthen the squad, maybe another striker and a defender as keeping clean sheets has been our forte.”

He went on to add: “When Karl stepped down I told the club I was more than happy to take the job on, but understood if they wanted to look elsewhere.

“But they were happy for me to give it a go and I’m looking forward to it.

“After helping Karl last season I suppose it was the natural thing for me to do and I’m 37 this year so my time playing is nearly up.”

The Seasiders are back in training earlier than usual this summer with Edwards keen to hit the ground running following a slow start to the last campaign.

“I’ve played with the majority of the lads so I won’t have to get to know them from scratch,” he added.

Mark Bailey has also taken up the position of club coach, a role that will see him support both Edwards and Thom as well as the Seasiders’s other teams.

Meanwhile, Philip Evans has been elected as the club’s new president, succeeding the late Barbara Austin at the AGM earlier this month.