He stepped down from the Occupation Road post after two seasons in charge due to work commitments.

Former Corby Town vice-chairman Mark Pengelly, who has joined the Premier Division club as general manager, paid tribute to the outgoing boss.

He said: "Paul did a tremendous job on a very tight budget and I would like to place on record our thanks to him for all his efforts.

"Our immediate task is to quickly find his replacement because we want to take this club forward.

"Corby Town's progress from a financial aspect and their aspirations to climb even higher leaves a void locally which we believe we can fill.

"At the moment we aren't able to gain promotion. But there's no reason why we can't compete for trophies and regularly challenge at the top of the table at our present level."

S&L hope to announce a successor to Ross in the next few days.

"We have someone in mind and I think his appointment will surpise a lot of people in UCL circles," added Pengelly.

Ross, who spent five years running the reserves before taking over the first team, explained: "I was finding it increasingly difficult to combine football with my full-time job.

"I'm the European operations manager for a large company and that involves a lot of travelling. Often I was rushing around trying to get back in time for games.

"I thoroughly enjoyed being manager of S&L. It's a marvellous job and I love the club. Being in charge of Corby boys was a treat.

"I couldn't be happier with all the players I was involved with. They were great and I hope they get a fair crack from whoever replaces me. But sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.

"I always said that if someone else could come in and take the club on then I was prepared to walk away. I felt we'd reached that stage.

"And if what they've got planned comes off then it can only improve things. I'm still a member of the club so I will continue to watch games and follow the club's progress with interest."