STEVE Tate has offered his profuse apologies to Christchurch and their manager Pete Moore for going back on his agreement to become Priory's player-coach.

Just days after verbally committing his future to the Sydenhams Wessex League outfit, the 35-year-old former Newport IoW boss, pictured above, has admitted he made a mistake.

He confessed: "I let my heart rule my head and made the wrong decision about still being able to play football and put in the commitment that's needed.

"I've got two small children and, after 20 magnificent years in football, it's time for me to give my wife more of my time.

"When I accepted the Christchurch job I thought I could help their young side, but I've realised I can't give them the commitment they need. I didn't want to just turn up, play a game, say the odd word and then go home again and have the Christchurch players thinking: 'Is that all Steve Tate's worth?'

"To do the job properly you need to train on Tuesdays and Thursdays, watch a game on a Wednesday and play on a Saturday, and when I sat and thought about it in the cold light of day I realised I couldn't do it. You have to eat, drink and live football."

Having plied his trade as a striker with Bashley, Havant, Waterlooville, Weymouth and Newport IOW, Tate left Southern League football for family reasons to play for Lymington & New Milton in the Wessex League.

But he was tempted back to the Dr Martens scene as Newport manager two seasons ago and quit when the Islanders went into receivership towards the end of last year. He saw out the season playing for his old mate Neil Hards at Vase winners Winchester City and recently applied for the vacant manager's job at Bashley, losing out to Geoff Butler.

He admitted: "I shouldn't have gone for the Bashley job either. To be brutally honest, being a manager was not something that came easy to me even when I was at Newport. That's why you've got to admire the likes of Pete Moore (Christchurch), Graham Kemp (Brockenhurst) and Tom Killick (Poole Town). Managers like that are worth their weight in gold for the time and effort they put in.

"I want to apologise to Pete Moore, Christchurch and the Christchurch players for changing my mind. Me and Pete go back 20-odd years. His brother lived next door to me when I was a kid and Pete was also at Bashley when I was there.

"I just hope he can forgive me and have a beer with me one day."