League Two Gillingham appoint Bonner as manager

Image source, Rex Features

Image caption, Mark Bonner is Gillingham's fourth permanent boss in the past five years

Gillingham have appointed former Cambridge United boss Mark Bonner as their manager.

The 38-year-old succeeds Stephen Clemence who was sacked at the end of last month after almost six months in charge.

Bonner guided Cambridge to promotion from League Two in 2021 but was sacked in November with the club four points above the League One relegation zone.

Bonner has agreed a two-year contract at the Priestfield Stadium.

"He has the experience to get us where we want to go," managing director Joe Comper told the club website.

"We were specifically looking for a leader with direct experience playing successfully in League Two.

"We were also looking for someone who had promoted a team out of the league and had the skills to build that sort of ambitious culture.鈥

Image source, Rex Features

Image caption, One of Bonner's greatest achievements as Cambridge boss was masterminding an FA Cup win at Premier League side Newcastle United

Bonner was Cambridge's academy manager before initially taking temporary charge at the Abbey Stadium after Colin Calderwood's sacking in January 2020.

He led the club to four successive victories and was handed the role permanently, guiding the U's to promotion the following season.

The club finished 14th in his first season in League One and 20th the season after.

Bonner also guided them to the fourth round of the FA Cup in January 2022 after beating Premier League side Newcastle United 1-0 at St James' Park.

鈥淚 am delighted to join Gillingham FC and can't wait to get started as manager, as we get to work on preparing for the new season and building a team that supporters enjoy watching and a culture that the players love being part of,"