FORMER Suffolk FA chairman Mick Pearce has been appointed as general manager - football at AFC Sudbury.

Pearce will work closely with Chris Tracey and his management team and will assist them by taking over responsibility for the team budget and all team financial matters at the Ryman League Division One North club as well as assisting with the other adult teams.

He will also assist with the identification of new players and in conjunction with Chris Tracey will agree future terms and conditions of contract.

Pearce has many years of experience in senior, local football, having played for various clubs in Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire between 1978 and 1998.

He then moved on and refereed between 1982 and 2007 before he moved into league management. He was appointed as the Suffolk County FA vice-chairman for three years between 2004 and 2007 and then became chairman, serving from 2007 until he stood down earlier this year.

Pearce is a member of the Suffolk County FA Council for West Suffolk (North) representing junior football from 2002 onwards and was a Suffolk County FA Committee member with responsibility for referees and discipline until they were disbanded last year.

In his business life Pearce previously worked for the Lloyds Banking Group for 32 years and was the local director for Suffolk and Norfolk for the last eight years. He is currently the business support group manager for the Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service.

AFC Sudbury chairman Philip Turner said: “We are delighted he has agreed to join us and I am sure that with his wealth of business and football back ground he will be a great asset to the club and considerable help to Chris and the team as we build for the future.”