John Field will be no stranger to Blues fans as he was manager of Essex Olympian side Harold Hill, a team we have played as part of our preparations for each of the last 3 seasons.

Field played for Rainham, Ford United and Harold Wood before moving into coaching first at Mountnessing Boca, who played at Blues training centre at The Academy in Loughton, where he caught the eye of Andy Swallow. Field then moved to Harold Hill where he joined up with West Ham coach Ricki Shelvey, leading the team to promotion to the Premier Division of the Essex Olympian League.

After taking a season-long break from football Field comes on board at the third time of asking after being being approached to join the reserve team staff in 2012 and to manage the u21s in 2013.

Eagle-eyed supporters may have noticed that Field joined the first team squad for the match at Maidstone at the end of last season, and after meeting with new first team manager Jody Brown on Saturday Field thinks both the time and the challenge are right as he looks to build on the success of last season's second placed finish in the inaugral Ryman u21 competition.

Dave Hellen will remain with the u21s as assistant manager and right-back Christos Mead, a former Chelsea FC community coach, has decided to hang up his boots and will join the u21s coaching staff.

Club scout and first team coach David Raven hailed the appointment as a "positive step forwards for the club" before adding "I've known John for years and both Andy [Swallow] and I have tried to bring him on board in recent seasons as he likes to see the game played in the right way, is great with the man-management side of things and is committed to the development and progression of players through the youth system and into senior football."