We are excited to welcome Aaron Lorentson to the club as the new manager of our Under 23s. Aaron has recently left Bearsted, where he had been performing a similar role. Aaron will be assisted by coaches Luke Trimmings and Mason East.

Whitstable have a thriving youth section and we are committed to providing the necessary facilities, coaching and support to develop our players and give them the opportunity to progress into senior football, with a clear pathway into our first team and then perhaps higher up the football pyramid. Aaron and his team will be working closely with the coaches of our three Under 18 teams, our Under 16s and the Whitstable Town Academy to identify and profile the players. The recently appointed first team managers, Jamie Coyle and Matt Longhurst, are both passionate about youth development and have a good record of coaching and giving opportunities to young players, so will also be working with Aaron and the other coaches.

We are running two Under 23 teams in the coming season, one in the SCEFL Development League and the other in the Kent County Football League, as we believe this will give our young players a variety of experience that will assist their transition to adult football.

Here is a message from Aaron to introduce himself.

“I have been coaching for fourteen years and spent the last two in the Under 23s Development League alongside doing bits for the first team at Bearsted. Being obsessed with football, I was looking for a new challenge and saw this position advertised, which made me curious. After speaking to a couple of people about the club and meeting the chairman Steve Clayton to know what commitments it would need, how it would work, what’s on offer and how well people are treated, it was something that excited me.

The project here was shown to me and I was really impressed with the structure, the player care and the community they have at Whitstable, who have always been held in high regard in non-league. I hopefully can play my part in developing the youth players here to break through into first team football at the club and aiding the first team to achieve their goals. I will be preparing the players to the best of my abilities, as well as improving my own skill set at the same time and can’t wait to get started.”

Welcome to Whitstable Aaron, Luke and Mason.