Johnson has decided to take a break from the game after overseeing the most successful period in Westfield's 81-year history.

He said: "It's something I've thought about as the season's gone on really. I need a break from it. It's very time consuming. It's not just Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, it's more than that really.

"I've enjoyed the football side of it and I've got an awful lot of time for the club. The reason I've done it now is to give the club time to see who else they would want to appoint."

Johnson was assistant manager when The Parishioners were first admitted into the Sussex County Football League at the start of the 1997-98 campaign.

The village outfit won the Hastings & District FA Intermediate Cup that term before going on to secure a runners-up finish and with it promotion into senior football for the first time a year later.

Johnson took sole charge following the resignation of Shaun Hardy midway through the 2002-03 season and the club has continued to outshine others with greater resources.

Westfield have become a regular fixture in the upper echelons of Division Two, achieving their highest ever placing of third last May when they were denied promotion due to ground constraints.

They clinched their first ever senior trophy last week by virtue of edging out higher grade Sidley United in the Hastings & District FA Senior Cup Final.

Johnson's side was runners-up in the same competition in 2002-03 and 2005-06, as well as the Division Two Challenge Cup in 2002-03.

He informed club chairman Graham Drinkwater of his decision on Thursday, last week, and told the players after the 2-0 defeat at Wealden on Tuesday night.

His final three games will be at home to Mile Oak tomorrow (Saturday), away to Lancing next Saturday (April 26) and away to East Grinstead Town on Wednesday April 30.

Drinkwater added: "I've got nothing but praise for him and can't thank him enough for what he's done. Not at all did I imagine the club would enjoy the success it's had when it first entered the league."

The chairman went on to state that he has already spoken to a possible successor and has one or two more irons in the fire.