Walton and Hersham axe second manager of the season as Gaspar departs

Walton & Hersham are looking for a manager again. Ruben Gaspar has gone after barely seven weeks in the permanent job, the second boss to leave the National League South strugglers since August.

The club confirmed on Monday that Gaspar will not continue as first-team manager. The announcement came two days after a 3-1 defeat at Slough Town in a meeting of the division’s bottom two. After a goalless first half, the game turned on what Walton’s own report called a soft penalty.

From B team to the hot seat

Porto-born Gaspar stepped up from the club’s B team in early September. He took interim charge alongside Wayne Andrews after Kevin James and his assistant were relieved of their duties on 31 August. James had lasted six league games and lost every one. New director of football Neal Ardley, the former AFC Wimbledon and Notts County boss, then gave Gaspar the job on a permanent basis on 23 September.

False dawn

There were green shoots. An October run of four league games without defeat suggested the Swans might find their feet at Step 2. That run ended at Horsham on 24 October, and three more defeats followed against Salisbury, Torquay and Slough. Walton failed to score in the first two. Going into the weekend they were 23rd with eight points from 14 games.

The squad has also been thinning. Midfielder Anis Nuur, a three-year servant who made more than 100 appearances, left at the end of October and joined divisional rivals Farnborough days later.

From TikTok to turmoil

This is a club that was in the tenth tier in 2019. A group of student owners, and a TikTok following in the millions, powered four promotions. Last season’s Southern League Premier South title was won under Jakub Pietrzak, who replaced Billy Rowley when Yeovil poached him last November. Pietrzak left in May without agreeing a new deal.

Whoever comes in next will be Walton’s fifth manager since the start of last season. That isn’t a rebuild, it’s a revolving door. Ardley was brought in to give the football side some structure, and his first big call didn’t last two months. The club has promised an update shortly. They need to get this one right, before they get caught adrift.