David Jeffrey praised following Ballymena departure

In a statement posted on social media, a spokesperson for the Warden Street outfit said: “Ballymena United can announce that David Jeffrey has left the club this evening (May 9) by mutual consent.

“We thank David for his achievements at The Showgrounds during his time here, not least for our League Cup win and European forays, and express our best wishes to him for the future.

“We will make an announcement in the near future about the way forward for the Sky Blues.”

Mr Jeffrey, who enjoyed a successful playing career at Linfield and Ards as well as serving as player/manager at Larne, had a decorated spell as Linfield manager from 1997 until 2014 before taking up the post at Ballymena in 2016.

Ballymena, who finished ninth in the 2022/23 Danske Bank Irish Premiership campaign, confirmed this morning (Wednesday) that they are “recruiting the position of first team manager/head coach.”

A post on the club’s social media channels added: “Expressions of interest should be sent to [email protected] no later than Friday, May 19. Applications will be held strictly confidentially.

"Applicants who have at least started their UEFA Pro Diploma qualification would be desirable, however, applicants who have their UEFA A Licence and are in a position to work to the UEFA Pro Diploma within a reasonable timeframe will be considered.”