MY LOVE AFFAIR KEPT GROWING!

END OF AN ERA FOR TOP BOSS TOM

- Andy Mitchell

NOT many managers who take a Step 6 job plan to be around more than 19 years later – Tom Killick certainly didn’t.

Life comes at you fast, though, with five league titles, four promotions and six cup wins across 975 games in charge of Poole Town blasting by in what feels like a blink of an eye.

Sure, there were heartaches and hurdles, but there was plenty of time – more than decade – when the marriage between legendary manager Killick and his beloved Dolphins looked unbreakable.

The former striker, who struck twice at Wembley to help Poole’s arch rivals Wimborne Town win the FA Vase in 1992, took a big gamble by leaving Salisbury City where he was assistant manager to Nick Holmes.

Somewhat understandably, it started out as a stepping stone.

“I didn’t really want to drop down to that level but I wanted to start my managerial career,” Killick told The NLP.

“I thought I could do Poole some good but being honest, I also thought I could get back to the level of football I was keen to be at, then you get attached to people and the club and it becomes very difficult to leave.

“When we got into the Wessex Premier, I realised quite quickly that we had a decent chance of getting promoted.