Curzon Ashton claim manager was 'in talks' with another club in build-up to Chesterfield FA Cup tie

The Nash sacked Cunningham on Monday after the Spireites beat them 4-0 at the Tameside Stadium on Saturday.

Many people called the decision ‘harsh’ and ‘bizarre’ given Cunningham had guided them to sixth in the National League North.

After Saturday’s match Cunningham revealed that an admin error had forced former Spireite Jack McKay to miss out on playing against Chesterfield.

The club has now issued a statement to ‘clarify the circumstances’ of his departure.

"Steve was immensely popular at Curzon and, after an aborted 2020/2021 season, had really started to show why the club had placed so much trust in him when appointing him as manager, moving up to a new level of football from his previous role at Colne,” the club said in its statement.

“Unfortunately, over the weekend, the board became aware that Steve and his assistant Damien Crossley had been in talks with another club about their managerial position, without the knowledge of the club, together with a serious breach of club discipline and at a time when we would have expected that the focus would have been on the upcoming FA Cup tie against Chesterfield FC. This was confirmed to us in subsequent discussions with Steve.

“As a board, we felt that this action undermined the trust that had been in place between the club and manager. Sadly, we felt that we were left with little choice other than to find a new manager to take us forward."