Cray Wanderers FC Announcement – Tim O’Shea appointed first team manager – 2025-26 season
Pics: Steve Cullum & Ben Keyes
Cray Wanderers are delighted to announce the appointment of Tim O’Shea as First Team Manager for the 2025-26 season. This follows a run seven matches as interim first team manager at the end of the current 2024-25 Isthmian Premier League season.
Tim or ‘Tosh’ as often known came to Cray Wanderers as Assistant Manager to long- time friend Neil Smith who was appointed also initially as Interim Manager in March 2022. After helping the club avoid relegation in 2021-22 the following season was the greatest in the club’s history in terms of league position and finished 5th and a place in the Isthmian Premier Playoffs for the first time only ending in a penalty shoot- out defeat at Hornchurch.
After recovering from a sticky start to the 2023-24 season to finish fairly comfortably clear of relegation, Tim alongside Neil in a momentous first season at Flamingo Park has again helped to get the club away from any relegation problems with a strong 2025 on field performance and just one home defeat in the last sixteen league games. The club also reached the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup this season, only the third time in the club’s history.
In March 2025, Smith departed the club to become the first manager in Cray Wanderers history to move up into the Football League as Assistant to Scott Lindsay at Crawley Town. Tim took over at short notice for the rest of the season and a tough end schedule but with the club currently in 10th place and on 60 points, three wins out of the first four games certainly didn’t do his chances of a permanent appointment any harm at all.
Cray Wanderers Chairman Gary Hillman said “Tim has played a very big part in first team affairs over the last three years and I have been very impressed with the team performances since Neil Smith’s departure. He has previous managerial experience in the National League so it was an easy decision for myself and Vice-Chairman Michael Paye to make”.
Tim represented Republic of Ireland at Youth level and came through the Tottenham Hotspur youth system and went on to make 3 appearances for the first team between 1983-88 which included a loan spell at Newport County and went on to Leyton Orient for the 1988-89 season. He went on to star at Gillingham as a defender making 112 appearances between 1989 and 1992. After later playing in Hong
Kong he went into non-league football with Farnborough Town and Welling United and from here went into management at Grays, Croydon and Lewes where Neil Smith was a coach. After a spell out of the game he came to Cray Wanderers with Neil in March 2022 now as his Assistant and now has a clean slate to begin the 2025-26 season with London’s Oldest Football Club.
Cray Wanderers FC – Mark Stimson appointed First Team Assistant Manager
Cray Wanderers are pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Stimson as Assistant First Team Manager. Mark, a five time former FA Trophy Winners as Manager will assist Tim O’Shea who has been confirmed as first team manager for the 2025-26 season.
Mark whose last managerial post was at Margate towards the end of the 2023-24 season will join Tim and the coaching staff for Friday’s league game at Horsham.
Mark came through the Tottenham Hotspur Youth Section and was a team mate of Tim was Youth Team Captain at White Hart Lane in 1987-88. Mark made his Spurs first team debut towards the end of the 1986-87 season. He then went out like Tim to Leyton Orient before joining then Division 2 Newcastle United from 1989-92, Portsmouth after an initial loan spell from 1993-96 and then on to Southend United before heading into non-league football which included an FA Trophy Winners medal with Canvey Island in 2000-01.
His managerial career began at Grays Athletic where he used to be a player and at the time were one of the leading lights of the non-league game. Grays were Conference South Champions in 2004-05 winning the FA Trophy in the same season and won it again the following year. That season, 2005-06, Mark’s Grays side met Cray Wanderers in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup while Grays top the National League.
From here he spent a season at then non-league Stevenage and made it a hat-trick of FA Trophy wins in 2006-07. His success there saw him into the Football League with Gillingham and helped the Kent side gain promotion to League One in 2008-09 beating Shrewsbury Town in the Final but were relegated the following year. He returned to the Non-League game with Barnet, Kettering Town and had great success at Thurrock between 2012 and 2018 earning the Essex side promotion to the Isthmian Premier in 2016-17. Then via Waltham Abbey had five successful years at Hornchurch from 2018-2023 winning the FA Trophy for the fourth time as a manager in 2021. After leaving Hornchurch in 2023 he was briefly at Canvey Island and Margate but now returns alongside his former Spurs team-mate as Assistant Manager and helps to add even more gravitas to a fine managerial team and bench.
We welcome Mark to Cray Wanderers and is sure to be a hit with the fans much like the manager.
