Peterborough Sports boss admits his team haven't been good enough after relegation was confirmed

Sports lost 2-0 at Oxford City to confirm a four-year stay at step 2 level was over. It’s been a turbulent campaign which involved two changes of management and a large churn of players.

Gash cited the failure to create the team spirit Sports were famous for as they climbed the divisions as one reason for a disappointing campaign which sees the city side next-to-bottom in the table 10 points from safety and still three more games to play.

Gash started the season as co-manager with Luke Steele – the pair had steered the club to a record finish and points total in the 2024-25 season – before former Premier League manager Phil Brown took charge in September. Brown was relieved of his duties in March and Gash returned, but he was unable to save Sports from the drop.

Gash will sit down and discuss his future with owner/chairman Mike Woodward once the season is over. Sports play their final home game against mid-table AFC Telford at PIMS Park on Saturday (3pm kick off).

"Everyone of us, individually and as a collective, has to take responsibility for us not being good enough this season,” Gash told Peterborough Community Radio. “It doesn’t matter if you are 18 or 39 like me. We haven’t been good enough or or off the field.

"There are fine margins and small percentages that make a difference on a Saturday afternoon. I have been in the game long enough to know that the little things do matter.

"Football doesn’t always have to be pretty. Then last two teams to win this league – Tamworth and Brackley – were part-time clubs and no-one would say they played great football, but they were together and they knew they could rely on each other every matchday.

"It’s been hard to re-create that here. We had manager changes and lots of players coming in and going out and we only train twice a week so it can be difficult to get players to interact and become a close unit, and we haven’t been as tight as we’d have liked. It wasn’t like it had been in years gone by.

"Players need to make demands of each other without falling out. You need to look around a dressing room and know you can rely on every single player in it.

“I knew we had the ability to compete which makes it frustrating, but now we need to make sure we finish the season strongly. I’m not a man who will accept finishing with a whimper and I am confident the players will give everything in the final three games. We need something to take us into a new season.

“I haven’t had any conversations with a chairman who has given everything he could to the club. When he asked me to take the job on again I didn’t hesitate because I love this club. I still feel like I want to do anything I can to help them.”

Sports barely laid a glove on Oxford which was disappointing after they had been within a minute of beating King’s Lynn Town at PIMS Park on Good Friday. Luce Miller and Marcel Oakley scored the Sports goals in a 2-2 draw.