JAMES Stokoe has commented on his departure from Wimborne Town, sharing how he felt “honoured to have played for and have managed” the Magpies.

The board at New Cuthbury made the decision to part ways with the club stalwart following a mixed start to the season, with Magpies ninth in the Southern League Division One South table and out of the FA Cup and FA Trophy.

When asked how he was feeling following his departure, Stokoe told the Daily Echo: “Just a real mixed bag of how I feel at the moment, to be honest.

“Frustrated and disappointed. But also honoured to have played for and to have managed the club.

“It’s just fine margins that make a difference.

“We had quite a lot of changes in playing personnel. There's new staff come in as well. It takes time to fully get together.

“We knew pressure was higher this year. We wanted to be up and around it and like I said, it’s those fine margins.

“Just unfortunately didn't quite work out for us and on the pitch to get the results that we required.”

With over 450 appearances and 100 goals for Magpies, Stokoe is held in high regard by Wimborne fans, despite relegation from the Southern Premier League last season.

“Fans want the best for the club,” Stokoe restarted.

“Football is a results business. We had almost a 50/50 split on results this year.

“But overall, the majority of the fans have been excellent in my time as a manager. You're not always going to please everybody.

“I loved playing in front of them, for all the appearances I made.

“Hopefully they took some good times out of what I managed to do as manager with the cup runs that we had along the way as well.

“So hopefully they look back fondly over my association with the club.”

The stint in the dugout at New Cuthbury marked Stokoe’s first steps in to management, with the former Bashley and Eastleigh midfielder not currently thinking about his next move.

“It's hard to think about other jobs or other opportunities at the moment,” he added.

“Wimborne has been a huge part of my footballing career.

“That now comes to an end, which I knew it would do at some point.

“Whether I want to go and be involved with another club, after spending so long at one, it’s something that I've got to sit down and think about over the coming weeks, months and take from there.

“With that really at that moment, I'm really not too sure.”