Skegness Town appoint Gary King as joint-boss

King, who has been a regular scorer for the Lilywhites in recent years but who has now decided to retire from playing, was previously in a player/assistant manager role alongside Matt Easton who has now left the club.

Skegness, who returned to pre-season training this week, will again be in the UCL Premier North next season after a tenth-place finish in 2024/25.

King said: “This is an exciting opportunity and a decision that I have been juggling with for a season or two now.

“To be a part of Skegness Town as a local lad in any capacity is one that most lads around the area would love to be in and I’m excited to continue my journey with the club.”

Rawlinson said that the move to bring King in alongside him was a necessary one on several levels.

He said: “The pressures in my career away from football are getting greater so I needed someone to share the load.

“Gary was very keen to move into a managerial role as his playing career draws to a close and he just seemed like a really good fit.

"He’ll bring freshness and energy and is about 10-12 years younger than me so is very current with the players.

"He’s also been a very good player for this club and others at higher levels. I’ve known him for over ten years now and we did lock horns at times last year with what he wanted and what I was thinking, but the simple fact is that he’s a forward and we haven’t scored enough goals in the three years that I’ve been in charge.

"I’m quite a defensive-minded manager, so I think it’s really important to have an offensive-minded joint-manager. We’ve worked out exactly what each other’s roles will be and who is in charge of what, just so there’s no miscommunication.

"We’ve decided on a way of playing and on a squad that we’re going to try and bring together, and we can use Gary’s undoubted enthusiasm to help us try and score more goals.

"We’re not going to be a team continually chasing to get into the play-offs by scoring 40-50 goals – it needs to be 60-70 as a minimum but without suddenly letting in too many at the other end.”

​