Hastings United hope to have a new manager in place inside a month.

But chairman Dave Omerod admits he had tears in his eyes when Garry Wilson and assistant Danny Bloor stepped down.

United are on the hunt for a new boss after narrowly missing out on a Ryman south play-off place.

Wilson and Bloor have resigned primarily for family reasons, although the latter admits there were also “football issues” which concerned them.

They told Ormerod privately they would be stepping down at the end of the season shortly before the final league game, against Herne Bay.

The subsequent defeat saw Hastings miss out on last night’s play-off semi-finals.

Ormerod told The Argus: “We have had one two people express an interest already but we will be advertising from this weekend.

“I think there will be a good level of interest in the job.

“I was gutted Garry and Danny stood down. I’ve been in football for 38 years and it was probably the most upset I’ve been.

“I had a tear in my eye as I walked out of the boardroom. I asked them if they would change their minds.”

Hastings have no players under contract and the new boss could face a rebuilding process.

But Ormerod is hopeful the club will maintain progress made this season.

He said: “We could have been relegated to the County League this time last year.

“I’m sure we would have progressed again next year under Garry and Danny but hopefully we will get the right man in to do that anyway.

“If we get the right quality of applicants, I would hope to have somebody in place in two or three weeks from the weekend.”

Bloor’s son Teddy has made great strides playing for Mansfield this season while Wilson’s boy Liam is heading to the States on a soccer scholarship.

Both men have been unable to watch their boys’ progress given their commitments.

Bloor said: “It was a family decision for both us but there were also football issues I wouldn’t want to go into.

“We couldn’t have worked for a nicer chairman than Dave and we feel we have left Hastings in a better position than when we arrived.”