Garry Thompson and Shaun Gardner have left Bradford (Park Avenue) - just two matches into the new season.

Former Workington Reds player Thompson and striker Gardner, who made more than 100 Penrith AFC appearances, took the player-boss and assistant manager roles respectively at the Horsfall Stadium in May, but were relinquished of their duties last night.

It came after they had began their 2019/20 campaign with a 5-0 loss at Curzon Ashton on Saturday and a defeat at home to Guiseley on Tuesday evening by the same scoreline.

"As a club, we wholly own this decision and would like to place on record our sincere thanks to the pair for their hard work and commitment to the role," chairman Gareth Roberts said in a club statement.

"We regret Garry and Shaun’s time with us has been so short, as we really hoped things would work out differently as they are both great guys.

"We understand there will be question marks over our decision after only a few games in charge but, hopefully, this will allow them to build good careers in the game. We only wish them well going forward."

This summer, they signed former Penrith AFC winger Matty Clarke, who had a brief trial with Carlisle United. He started in their defeat to Guiseley in midweek.

In his last match for Penrith at the end of last season, Gardner scored but also missed a penalty in their 3-1 Cumberland Cup final defeat to Carlisle.

Thompson, meanwhile, only joined Workington in January before leaving at the end of last term.