TILBURY FC manager John Coventry has apologised after being rebuked by his new club, another south Essex team and many football followers for comments he made on social media when he was critical of a player and referred to his mental health issues.

Coventry took to social media with a comment after Southend Manor announced the signing of former Southend United and Ipswich Town academies player Luca Collins, who has also played for AFC Sudbury, Witham Town and Heybridge Swifts.

Manor quoted the goalkeeper as saying: "Can't wait to get started after a short break from football. Buzzing to be reunited with the Gaffer and staff, after keeping a close eye on the past year, They're trying to build something special for the club and look forward to being part of it."

Greeting news of the signing Coventry, who has just begun his first season with Tilbury after a management career that saw him spent more than a decade with East Thurrock United, appeared to want to comment on the young keeper but simply posted: "I can't say anything because of his mental health, Prick."

That prompted an outcry from followers of Essex Senior League Manor that has reverberated around local non-League circles.

John Coventry's initial comment on Twitter.

Southend Manor officially condemned the comments and in a statement said: "We will be reaching out to Tilbury for an explanation for both the individual's comment and the club's response via their own Twitter account.

"Everyone associated with Southend Manor Football Club, our coaches, our players, our staff and all of our fans fully support mental health and take mental health very seriously.

"We want Southend Manor to be a safe place for everyone and we would like to remind you all that our messages are always open if you ever want to talk. No matter how big or small, someone will be here to talk to."

The initial post from Tilbury was reportedly posted by Coventry and said: "The comments we have made, and subsequently received, are not healthy for anyone. I hope you can accept a genuine apology from us both, and wish you all, all the best for the season.

"We haven't always got it right, sometimes mistakes happen, but we are always willing to apologise when wrong and try to learn from it in future. Mental health is something which has affected our family in the past, which only adds to how poor we have handled this situation."

On their Twitter page Tilbury also gave an indication of what had happened withe the following post: "The number of messages we have had asking about signings and we won't announce until pen is put to paper. Today proves our reasoning, a player commits to the club a while back last week don't want to play football anymore this week has a new club."

Today (Tuesday, 5 July) Tilbury posted a formal statement, believed to come from club owner Danny Nash, on their website which reads: "In response to the Tweet on 04/07/22 by our first team manager John Coventry the club can confirm a meeting has taken place between the club management committee and John Coventry this morning.

"Tilbury Football Club take mental health very seriously and are supportive of any mental health organisation and their service users. As a club we actively support local charities in providing free facilities on a weekly basis to do a small part in assisting ongoing treatment, support and recovery. The club also supports the local authority with their service users looking to get back into a social setting and football by inviting service users as our guest to home fixtures.

"Having spoken at length to John this morning he has satisfied the committee this was unintentional and ended up in the public domain through lack of twitter understanding.

"John remorsefully apologised for the tweet and any stress, anxiety and distress he may have caused to anyone specifically the player in question. John has also accepted this cannot and will not happen in the future and he will be seeking to better understand mental health and its consequences. 

"Tilbury Football club does not condone or endorse the comments and would like to also extend their apologises on behalf of our management team for the undue stress this has caused Southend Manor their players, staff and supporters.

"As a conclusion to the above I would like to extend our offer to any mental health organisations that should they wish for a day out assisting with their service users recovery and their respective staff Tilbury FC would like to offer you a visit to our ground for a home fixture as our guests.

"The club would now like to draw to draw a line under this situation and move forward. We will not be commenting further on this incident."