Martin moves in as United end home fixtures with a victory

Jimmy, born in Luton, was the lead coach at Stevenage FC’s Elite Development Programme, where he has been working alongside departing United boss Cristian Colas.

He is currently in the final stages of completing his UEFA A Licence.

Jimmy will be assisted by Spaniard Emilio José Gutierrez. He is a ProLicence young coach who has spent most of his career at UD Tomares in Andalucía. The rest of the coaching staff will be announced in due course.

Jimmy says: “I’m very excited, Biggleswade is a unique setup, there’s a lot of people in the club that are trying to break the stereotype of non league football, it’s really exciting times”

Director of Football Guillem Balague said: “The thing that impressed me the most about Jimmy was his maturity, at no particular time was I worried, or his age entered the equation. If you have the commitment, if you have the knowhow, that is enough and his 5 years at Stevenage academy suggests he knows how to manage teams.

“The conversations we have had have confirmed the reports I had on him and he is aware the importance of continuity in terms of what we want to see on the pitch but of course with his own additions.

“His role is to make the first team even better, to recruit to make us stronger, but also understand what the club is trying to achieve. His experience in youth football will be essential as we want our teams to play with the same essence, our coaches will be able to learn from him and vice versa, and he has definitely embraced that.”

Emilio is 23 but already has a lot of experience and came recommended by Marcos Alvarez who was the number two of Juande Ramos at Spurs, and now the number two at Betis. He will also take one of the U18 sides next season.

The U23s will be run by Keith Castle and Nyasha Sagwete and the U18s EJA team led by Tony Deitsch.

A brace from Supporters’ Player of the Season Abraham Eze saw United to a 2-0 win over Cockfosters as the curtain came down on another season at Second Meadow, with the departing Cristian Colas taking his seat in the home dugout for the final time.

The first chance arrived when Matt Cooper, donning the captain’s armband, floated a terrific ball to release Kane Farrell down the left and his low cross needed the intervention of the defender at the near post.

ooper’s distribution helped engineer another opening with his cross-field pass eventually breaking for Gerard Martinez- after Ashley Grinham’s initial knock-down- and his clipped ball was turned wide by the head of Eze.

The most presentable opportunity thus far fell to the visitors, though, as a looping cross from the right drifted to the back post where the forward was waiting to volley just wide of Robbie Ponting’s left-hand post.

It’s not just the United skipper who’s capable of orchestrating attacks from the back as his defensive partner James Smith delivered the decisive pass that pierced Fosters’ backline to put Eze through and the striker composed himself before finishing confidently.

Their lead survived the remainder of the half but became under increasing threat after the interval as the away side squandered a decent chance at the near post following some neat build-up play in the box.

Fosters tested Ponting soon after as the goalkeeper’s loose touch saw him concede possession and the visitors managed to work a shooting chance that was tipped over.

The United shot-stopper was alert once more to make a save at his near post, however, he was rendered helpless when a remarkable overhead kick from twenty yards flew onto the crossbar- very nearly a goal of the season contender.

Determined to ensure victory on their manager’s final home game, the hosts sought to put the contest to bed and could have achieved precisely that had Martinez registered better contact on his shot that skewed wide after David Parkinson had played him through on goal.

United’s most prolific marksman would inevitably find the clinching strike, though, as Eze capitalised on a calamitous back pass to round the keeper and nudge the ball over the line as two defenders converged on him.