Tom Coleman returns to National 1 side Bishop’s Stortford as head coach after Marcus Cattell leaves role

Tom Coleman has returned to Bishop’s Stortford as the team’s new head coach after Marcus Cattell “decided to step down” from the role.

Cattell took sole charge of the first team this season after former captain Coleman resigned as joint head coach last summer following three years as joint head coach.

Stortford preserved their National 1 status on the final day this term thanks to a victory at Cinderford.

But, in a statement released on Friday (May 24), the club says Cattell has decided to leave his role after finding “the workload and pressure of the job increasingly difficult to manage”.

They add it had been hoped Cattell would remain in a less demanding role, but he has opted to “take a complete break”.

“Bishop Stortford Rugby Club’s head coach, Marcus Cattell, has decided to step down from his role following a tough season, which went down to the wire with a great win away from home in the last game ensuring our place in the National 1 for next season,” said the statement.

“Marcus has found the workload and pressure of the job increasingly difficult to manage and it had been hoped that he could be kept involved in a less demanding role, but he has decided to take a complete break.

“He has had a long involvement with the club. Having first joined as a mini, he rose through the ranks of youth and senior rugby and was a member of the first XV for a number of seasons.

“The club owes a massive thank you to him for the amazing amount of hard work and commitment he has given over the years, both as a player and a coach, and we wish him every success for the future.”

Coleman resigned as joint head coach 12 months ago to focus on his family and teaching career.

His decision then came after he and Cattell had guided Stortford to sixth place, their best finish in National 1.