Crawley Down Gatwick intend to recapture a local feel to the club after naming Tim Penlington as their new manager.

Penlington, who led East Grinstead United to the Mid Sussex League premier division title last season, replaces John Maggs as manager following the club’s relegation back to the County League.

His aim will be to bring in local players, as well as opening the door to young talent, as the Anvils try to return to the club’s community roots.

Penlington has been involved with the club on and off since first joining as an under-9s player, enjoying success as joint-manager of the third team, running the ladies’ team and coaching the under-18s. He also had a successful spell at Turners Hill in the Mid Sussex League.

He said: “This is a great opportunity and a great challenge. After the rollercoaster ride the club has been on, it needs a local fee and needs to get the community back involved.

“I have been involved with the under-18s before. If a player is good enough, they will get an opportunity.”

Chairman Brian Suckling said: “The club received several applications and narrowed it down to a shortlist of four good candidates.

“Tim lives in the village and has always been connected with the club. This will give him the chance to take his record from intermediate football to the next level.

“We feel with the club going back to the Sussex County League it gives us a chance to get more of a community feel to it. Tim’s exuberance will do that, without a doubt.

“He has already been talking to several players, players who live in the area and have experience of this level before.

Our aim remains to push to get back to step four of the pyramid but we must look at the positive side of relegation. For whatever reason our three years in the Ryman League has not captured the imagination of the local community like we thought it would do and we need to bring a community feel back to the club.”