He is possibly the most respected rugby coach in Sussex.

He has taken charge of a thriving school programme for 30 years, he has coached Jonny Wilkinson and he has guided Sussex into the top five of the County Championship.

The RFU were so impressed they made him a life member of the England Schools Rugby Union in a ceremony at Twickenham Yet, when Andy Turner stepped down as head coach of the senior county XV after masterminding another winning season, some Sussex rugby followers might have struggled to put a name to the face.

The 53-year-old from Chichester prefers to stay away from the spotlight, never ranting and raving during a match and always shying away from media attention.

Which is why it was fitting that, when the players offered their own tribute after the 19-14 play-off defeat of Hertfordshire recently, it was a simple, relaxed occasion behind closed doors.

Turner said: "It was at the dinner after the Hertfordshire game. The captain Gordon Denslow said a few words and all the players stood and applauded. That meant a lot to me."

So who is the man who was given the reins of the county team when Graham Thompson took over as manager in 1998 with the aim of reviving a flagging county programme?

Turner was born in Haywards Heath and played in the back line for his local team before a move to teach at Chichester High School persuaded him to re-locate to south west Sussex.

He played for Chi and was skipper of Middleton cricket team when they were in the Sussex League.

He has coached various school and youth representative teams, which has brought the likes of Wilkinson, Richard Hill, Joss Lewsey and Joe Worsley under his wing.

Asked about Wilkinson, to whom he refers as "the No.10", he said: "One of the nice things about him is he will always come up and speak to me when I see him. He's a modest young man and that's great credit to him. That's the way I like to be."

Who replaces Turner has yet to be decided, though assistant coach Ian Davies is a likely frontrunner and there is talk of inviting former England prop John Mallett, currently working at Brighton College, into the county set-up.

Mel Cook takes over as team manager as Thompson also steps down.

Sussex are now regulars in the 16-team elite Championship event, while their neighbours from Surrey battle against relegation and Hampshire compete in the secondary Shield section.

Thompson said: "We needed a coach and one of the people who came immediately into the frame was Andy Turner because he was a senior coach in the county.

"His knowledge of tactics, especially in the backs, is extremely good and I think he has learnt a lot about forward play.

"He is also a good man manager. He doesn't treat the players like kids."

Sussex's new era began with a 24-12 win over Berkshire at Bracknell on Easter Monday, 1999, with Henry Goodburn completing a hat-trick of tries.

Goodburn was one of five backs who played in both Turner's first and last matches in charge, a contingent which included Terry Butler, who scored in both those games.

Sussex also won at Oxfordshire in that opening season before putting up a creditable showing in defeat to mighty Cornwall.

They lost to Plate finalists Kent in 2000 and won two games out of three in both 2002 and 2004.

There was no Championship in 2001 due to fixture congestion caused by foot-and-mouth precautions while last season brought a disappointing ninth place, despite beating Kent.

Alex Meredith, one of the key figures throughout the last five years, highlighted Turner's relaxed style as his great strength.

He said: "It takes a while to get to know him but he's a good coach.

The reason we have done so well in the past few years is because we have been encouraged to express ourselves and enjoy our rugby."

Worthing are the best run rugby club in England, according to an RFU survey. They fared best in a study of almost 1,000 clubs which took into account factors such as playing performance, administration, membership and facilities.