Joint manager has received interest from other teams

James Gray says St Albans City is where his heart is after being approached by other teams.

In two-and-a-half seasons at Clarence Park, joint managers Gray and Graham Golds have engineered promotion to the Conference South and reached the first and second rounds proper of the FA Cup and FA Trophy competitions.

This season may have been their best work as they guided City to 13th in the Vanarama Conference South, despite working on one of the smallest budgets in the league.

They also unearthed a potential gem in 17-year-old Jack Green and worked the loan market expertly. The acquisition of Ian Gayle from Dagenham and Redbridge was a masterstroke as he shored up the defence following the departure of Ben Martin.

With so much optimism around the club’s future, Gray has no intention of leaving.

“I’ve had a few calls [from other clubs],” Gray told Saintsnet, “but St Albans is where my heart is.

“I love it here and I love the fans. This is where I want to be and progress as a manager. The club has shown faith in us and we’ve repaid it. We’ll take some of the credit because if you look when we took over, we’ve been successful and long may it continue.

“There’s still hard work to do and we want to push it on more than we have.”