DARREN MANNING - MANAGER. Darren joined us from Basildon United in November 2023 and we were very grateful to them for allowing us to speak to Darren and confirm his appointment so quickly. He was born in Grays and is an avid supporter of Grays Athletic from an early age. He became assistant to manager, Jamie Stuart at the time when we became 100% supporter-owned in 2016. He also enjoyed a very successful spell at Hullbridge Sports and took them into the Isthmian League as champions of the Essex Senior League in 2019 after nearly thirty years at that level. He has also managed Welling Town and transformed Basildon United into a promotion contender in our Isthmian League North Division, before moving to his boyhood club. He is supported by Assistant Manager CALLUM BOLGER. Callum is a young, hungry coach, who is also a Grays fan. He joined Darren's staff at Basildon United and has been his right-hand man ever since. His knowledge of this level and players is second to none.
Darren has also assembled an experienced support team for the 2025-26 season as follows:
ALEX O'LEARY - HEAD COACH
JOAO CARLOS - 1ST TEAM COACH
SAM WALKER - 1ST TEAM COACH
NIKOLA STRIZOVIC - GOALKEEPING COACH & DATA
MITCHELL BALDOCK - STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
LUKE EDMONDS - SPORTS THERAPIST

SIM MADGEWICK – MATCH DAY AND COACHING ASSISTANT. Date of Birth 27 April 1983. A Grays supporter since he was a child, he is an essential part of our match day preparation. An early riser, he was previously a milkman, but now works for ProKit, the country’s leading specialist sports retailer to grassroots football. He is also a highly successful Lawn Bowls player, winning many county and national titles and having the honour of captaining Essex to only their 3rd ever National Title in 2008. His young daughter, Millie has been hailed as the future of Grays Athletic FC, after she won the Essex FA #CelebrateEssex “Supporter” Award in June 2018, following a poll with nearly 1,200 votes on their Twitter account.

SAM BANTICK - FORWARD. Date of Birth 29 October 1991. Sam is in his third spell at the club, having made over 50 appearances previously. He was our leading goalscorer in the 2022-23 season with 21 goals, as he helped us reach the North Division semi-final play-off, scoring our opening goal in the 3-2 defeat at eventual play-off winners, AFC Sudbury. The veteran striker has represented a host of other clubs - Tilbury, Enfield, Heybridge Swifts, Hashtag United, Coggeshall Town, Brentwood Town, Canvey Island, Cambridge City, Enfield Town, Aveley and Tonbridge Angels.

TYLER BRAMPTON - DEFENDER. Date of Birth 30 January 1997. Tyler signed for us in November 2024 from Maldon & Tiptree. Manager Darren Manning has been an admirer of Tyler for several years and was very pleased to bring him to our club. He has represented a number of clubs, always with distinction. He started his career as a youth at Colchester United and has also played for Heybridge Swifts, Coggeshall Town, Waltham Abbey, Billericay Town and FC Clacton. He has been appointed club vice-captain for the 2025-26 season.

JORDAN CLARK - MIDFIELDER. Date of Birth 22 September 1995. Jordan, the identical twin brother of our captain, Lewis Clark, joined us from Tilbury in June 2025. He played for Hornchurch between 2018 and May 2024, where he made 199 appearances. His 100th appearance for the Urchins was on 22 May 2021. It was the day they won the FA Trophy at Wembley, beating Hereford 3-1. Quite a day for him! He was previously with Thurrock FC. 

LEWIS CLARK - DEFENDER. Date of Birth 22 September 1995. Lewis returned to the club in June 2025, being joined by his identical twin brother, Jordan. They also played together last season at Tilbury. He played over 100 times for us between 2019 and 2023, for the most part as our captain and leader on the pitch. He led us to the North Division play-off semi-final, scoring in the 3-2 defeat at AFC Sudbury. He has also represented Redbridge, Bowers & Pitsea, Thurrock FC, Poole Town and Yeovil Town as a youth. He has been appointed club captain for the 2025-26 season.

MACKENZIE DREW - GOALKEEPER. Date of Birth 27 August 2005. The young goalkeeper joined us in July 2025 from Chatham Town. During last season he represented Staplehurst Monarchs from Kent in the Southern Counties East League First Division.

CALLUM FITZER - MIDFIELDER. Date of Birth 13 April 2001. In June 2025, Callum re-united with manager, Darren Manning, who knows him well from his time at Hullbridge Sports and Basildon United. He signed for Witham Town in 2024-25, before moving to Basildon United. He came through the youth system at Southend United, captained the Essex Under 18s and also spent time at Southend Manor and Canvey Island.

ARON GORDON - WINGER. Date of Birth 28 January 1997. Aron re-joined us from Haringey Borough in September 2021, after he had made 23 starts for The Blues in the 2018-19 season, scoring six goals. He has also played for Waltham Abbey and Redbridge after representing Doncaster Rovers and Watford at youth level. His brother, Nathan played for us in the 2011-12 season when he also scored six goals, from 15 starts. Aron has now played nearly 200 games for us and is a real fans' favourite, with his blistering pace, an eye for goal and a smile to go with it.

LUKE HIRST - FORWARD. Date of Birth 29 September 2000. Luke joined us from Barking
ahead of the 2024-25 season. He had a couple of prolific seasons there, scoring 48 goals in 59 appearances, playing under Darren Manning for a short period. He also had a short stint at Enfield, scoring against us in the first league game of last season. He was with us in the pre-season of 2020-21, but suffered a bad injury in our friendly against Hashtag United. He has also represented Brentwood Town, Bowers & Pitsea, Hashtag United and Basildon United and had spells abroad with IFK Mora in Sweden.

HARRY HOPE - MIDFIELDER. Date of Birth 14 August 1994. Harry joined us in February 2025 from Canvey Island. He played his part as we achieved a 32-point haul from a 12-match unbeaten run with twelve wins and two draws as we moved into 9th position by the end of the 2024-25 League season. He was born in Cardiff and played for Cardiff Met. FC and Larkhall Athletic in Somerset before playing for Braintree Town, East Thurrock United, Concord Rangers, Tilbury and Sittingbourne.

MACAULEY JOYNES - DEFENDER. Date of Birth 6 October 1996. Macca re-joined the club in June 2025 after a two-year spell at Tilbury, where he helped them secure the Essex Senior League championship in 2023-24 and a 6th place finish in the North Division in 2024-25, making over 100 appearances. During his two previous spells with us from 2018 to 2023, he made over 140 appearances. He was the best man at defender, Tyler Brampton's wedding in 2024 and Tyler returned the favour as Macca married earlier this year.

KYE JUDE - DEFENDER. Date of Birth 30 July 1997. Kye joined the club in February 2025 from Basildon United. Another defender well known to Darren Manning from their time together at Basildon, where Kye captained the side. He quickly settled into our defence and was another reason we won close games towards the end of the last campaign, conceding just nine goals in the fourteen games he played. Kye has also represented Witham Town.

GEORGE MARSH - GOALKEEPER. Date of Birth 27 November 1999. George joined us in June 2025 to fill the gap left by long-term keeper, Danny Sambridge, who retired having played over 200 games for his boyhood club and around 500 senior games. George is also from Grays and has featured for Basildon United, Tilbury, Brightlingsea Regent, Cheshunt and Witham Town. Another of our younger recruits who was keen to join his local club and help us progress this season.

CASEY NOLAN-SAMUELS - DEFENDER. Date of Birth 27 November 1999. Casey signed for us in July 2025 after impressing in our pre-season games. He is a powerful and versatile player who has experience at Welling Town, Tower Hamlets, Sittingbourne and Walthamstow.

JOE PAXMAN - MIDFIELDER. Date of Birth 24 December 1996. Joe returned to the club in June 2025 from Maldon & Tiptree, having previously played for us between 2020 and 2022, with a total of 50 appearances and 7 goals. He was a youth at Southend United. Early in his career, he represented East Thurrock United during the 2014-15 season and spent time with Romford, Tilbury, Great Wakering Rovers, Aveley and Basildon United. He has also played for Horsham and Canvey Island, where he helped them reach the 2022-23 Isthmian League Premier Division play-off semi-finals.

DAVID ROMER - DEFENDER. Date of Birth 4 December 2005. David signed for us in July 2025 from Chatham Town. The young defender began his career at Cheltenham Town in their under 18s. He also had loan spells at Epsom & Ewell, Walton & Hersham and Snodland Town.

OSCAR SHELVEY-NEGUS - MIDFIELDER. Date of Birth 1 February 2002. The combative midfielder joined us in June 2025 from Witham Town. He has also represented Redbridge, Aveley, Concord Rangers and Bowers & Pitsea. He will help to strengthen our midfield area, joining Sid Walker and Jordan Clark in the "engine room.".

JAYDEN SILCOTT- BROWN - WINGER. Date of Birth 30 January 2001. Jayden, who signed for us in June 2025, was at Dover Athletic last season. The speedy winger played for FC Romania, Romford and Redbridge in the 2023-24 season and has also enjoyed spells at Brentwood Town, Whitstable Town, Colney Heath and Sporting Bengal United.

SID WALKER - MIDFIELDER. Date of Birth 19 December 2003. Sid joined us from Basildon United ahead of the 2024-25 season. He joined Basildon in 2022 and made 67 appearances over two seasons. He has also represented Brentwood Town, played Under 18 football for Essex and played briefly for Romford. He is well-known to Darren Manning from his time at Basildon and he has become an important part of our midfield.

A player pathway has been a significant new development for the 2025-26 season. A close relationship with Step 6 club, Barkingside FC, will see a number of our younger players given opportunities to play men's football for the first time. Five players have been chosen initially to gain experience and make their case for inclusion in our first team squad as follows:
Justin Bituin - Defender. Date of Birth 12 December 2005.
Elton Gjonbala - Forward. Date of Birth 9 March 2007.
Nils Hlukaku - Forward. Date of Birth 27 April 2002.
Omario Rosen - Defender. Date of Birth 18 March 1999.
Alexandru Strugurean - Midfielder. Date of Birth 26 May 2007.

The club also has a flourishing youth section led by the enthusiastic Andy Coultrup, with young boys and girls learning the game. Its development has been difficult without a ground and facilities to call our own. With the Ship Lane project now in the evaluation phase to secure the future of the football club, a clear pathway from its youth section of boys and girls through the reserve teams to senior men's and women's football is a high priority on our agenda for change.