CRAIG Gillam says he feels he had no choice but to resign as manager of Basildon United despite leading the club to its most successful ever season.

Just 10 days after helping the Bees win the Essex Senior League Challenge Cup, Gillam and assistant manager Lee Connor have stepped down after a meeting with club chairman Dave Maxwell.

Gillam discussed the future ambitions of the club, and is understood to have wanted Maxwell to sign off on an application for promotion to the Ryman One North next season.

The club failed to apply this season with the future of the club’s ground unclear, meaning they would have remained in the Essex Senior League even if they had topped the division.

They finished two points behind rivals Bowers & Pitsea, after losing out on the title on the final day of the campaign and Gillam has now decided to leave.

“I feel like I didn’t have a choice,” he said. “The situation with the ground means we simply cannot apply for promotion and this is an ambitious group and I am an ambitious manager.

“The squad stayed on this year because they wanted to give it a real good go next year and try and win promotion but if that is not an option then they have choices to make.

“I know the players are very loyal to me but I don’t know what my future holds.”

Several key players, including Essex Senior League top scorer Brad Warner, are now understood to be in talks with Ryman clubs.

The Bees boss did step down briefly in January before a player walk-out led to the manager re-evaluating his position and agreeing to stay.

And Gillam says he is already looking to get back into management in the near future, having won 30 of their 40 matches this season (finishing on 94 points) and more than doubling their points tally from the 2014/15 season.

“I definitely want to get back into management,” he said. “This is a very good squad of players and they are too good to stay at Essex Senior League level.

“The players and I were ready to give it a go but we are ambitious so who knows what the future holds.”