Ballymena exit 'wasn't knee-jerk' - Jeffrey

David Jeffrey led Ballymena United to three Irish Cup finals in four years

Former Ballymena United manager David Jeffrey says he instigated the conversation that ended his time as manager of the Irish Premiership club.

"It was quite simple, my time had come to an end," Jeffrey told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I was quite clear it was in the best interests of myself and the club."

"There's a right time for the club to go forward and a right time for the individual and for myself to say in that situation, 'enough is enough'.

"For me to say, 'thanks for the brilliant time, now it's time for the club to go in a different direction and for me to see what life brings going forward'."

• Jeffrey leaves Ballymena United 'by mutual consent'

Jeffrey won 31 trophies during a hugely successful spell as manager of Linfield, then after a couple of years working as a television and radio analyst and a newspaper columnist, he was lured back into management by Ballymena in March 2016.

His spell at the helm of the Braidmen saw them twice play in European club competition, finish second in the league in 2019, reach three League Cup finals, winning one, and also contest three Irish Cup deciders and two County Antrim Shield finals.

'League results weren't what they should be'

Ballymena have largely failed to replicate their form in knockout competitions in the Premiership in recent seasons, precipitating the decision of the parties to go their separate ways.

"Football is a results-driven business but coming towards the end of the season, while we did particularly well to get to a third Irish Cup final in four years, league results weren't what they should be," explained Jeffrey.

"It wasn't knee-jerk. We had conversations with the interim chairman and we talked about what way the club would go forward and basically said, 'let's put things on hold until the end of the season and see what is best for all concerned'.

"There are times where enough is enough, a time to go our separate ways.

"I started the conversation. The cup final was disappointing and directly after I spoke to Matthew Armstrong, the interim chairman, and said in terms of going forward, you'll have people for you, people against you and the ambivalent in the middle.

"You've got to work out in terms of going forward, 'how do people see things' and then we've got to say, 'what's best for the club' and then you've got to say, 'what's best for me'.

"We wanted to make sure there wasn't any acrimony, there wasn't any falling out, any nastiness."

Not ruling out return to management

Jeffrey's seven-year tenure with the Showgrounds club made him their longest-serving manager.

"I can only ever say good things about Ballymena United. It was an honour and a privilege and the seven years we had there were phenomenal.

"There were difficult times and there were challenges but over the piece it was a brilliant period."

Current managerial vacancies include the Northern Ireland women's international team and Irish Premiership club Cliftonville.

"The Northern Ireland women's team have done fantastically well and I've been delighted to see how they have progressed," enthused Jeffrey.

"I spoke at a charity fundraiser at Cliftonville recently and how I was treated that day was fantastic.

"It's lovely to be mentioned but I don't think I really would ever be connected with either of those jobs.

"I'm not saying I'll not manage again but there may be another role where I think I may be of some use."