Few things are certain in sport but one thing you can be sure of is that Alex Sykes won’t be out of football for long.

The 43-year-old left his position as first-team manager at Shortwood United in mid-April despite the club being in a comfortable mid-table position in Southern League Division One South and West.

A statement issued by the club said that “Alex and the club’s aspirations for the future do not correlate”.

Far from being despondent about the turn of events, Sykes was in positive mood when he spoke to The Local Answer.

“I’m keeping my ear to the ground and I definitely want to stay in football,” he said. “I want to go on to bigger and better things. Obviously any potential job has got to fit in around my work and young family but I’m open to offers, but I have been involved in football for over 20 years locally and don’t feel like I want to be without it just yet!”

Sykes, who is head of the PE department at Rednock School, cut his managerial teeth at Bishop’s Cleeve – “I had two good seasons there and I consider it my managerial apprenticeship,” he said – before linking up with Shortwood where he was joint manager with John Evans for three years.

This season was his first in sole charge and he said: “It’s been another fantastic season. To finish in the top half is a fabulous achievement for a club of Shortwood’s size.

“When you consider that this season we’ve been up against Hereford, who get crowds of 2,000 plus and Taunton, Tiverton and Evesham, who all get 300-400, it’s great for a club of our size with such illustrious neighbours as Forest Green!

“I’ve had four very, very successful seasons at the club when we’ve finished in the top half every season.

“We also had that phenomenal FA Cup run a couple of years ago when we reached the first round after beating Aldershot in a replay before losing to Port Vale.

“They are fantastic memories and we only just missed out on the play-offs that season as well.

“It’s a fantastic club and I wish them all the best.”

He may be temporarily out of the game he has graced for more than 20 years as a player and manager but Sykes still needs his Saturday afternoon football fix and he’s taken in games at Cirencester Town and Gloucester City over the past couple of weekends.

“You don’t get much chance to see other clubs play when you are a manager,” he said. “I’ve been doing some quick maths and I’ve worked out I’ve managed more than 250 games.

“I’ve got a really good grounding at this level.”

Not that Sykes is limiting his options to the Southern League Division One South and West.

“If I had the opportunity to go to a club higher up then I would certainly be interested,” he said.