JEFF Roberts says that he had no choice but to put his work commitments first as he stepped down as joint manager of Calne Town this week.

The 42-year-old, who lives in Swindon, took over as co-boss of the Lilywhites in May 2010 alongside Nick Vitale.

But he has called time on his spell in charge at Bremhill View, leaving Calne sitting third in the Toolstation League First Division.

Roberts says that an increased workload left him unable to carry on at Town and that son Jordan’s switch from Calne to Swindon Supermarine also had a bearing on his decision.

“I actually wanted to step down before Christmas but I was convinced by some of the other coaching staff to stay on. I’ve had so much extra work come up recently that I just needed a break,” said Roberts.

“There’s always been so much to do at the club and at the end of the day, your work and your family life is more important than football but I think I’ll probably miss it in a month.

“Jordan leaving to go and join Supermarine also played a part in it and it’s a shame but I had to make the decision to have a break.”

Assistant boss Tony Brown will step into Roberts’ shoes and become joint manager alongside Drew Youngsam.

Club vice-chairman John Rumming wanted to keep Roberts and is hoping that the players he brought to the club won’t follow suit.

“I didn’t want to see him leave but there’s nothing that we can do. He isn’t going to be a stranger though and he did say that you never know what could happen next season,” said Rumming.

“We let Jeff tell the players on Tuesday but when they all came out, the feeling seemed to be that they wanted to carry on, so hopefully that’s what will happen.”