Matthew Etherington: Colchester reinstate interim boss after legal advice

Matthew Etherington was in charge for Colchester's win at Grimsby last week

Colchester United have reinstated Matthew Etherington as interim head coach despite Crawley saying he is still under contract to them.

He was put in charge following the sacking of Ben Garner but had to step aside for Saturday's game at Accrington Stanley because of the contract issue.

Crawley said on Monday they were happy for him to resume his former role as Colchester's under-21 team boss.

But owner Robbie Cowling has reinstated Etherington with the first team.

Cowling said: "On Friday evening, we temporarily relieved Matty Etherington of his duties as interim first-team head coach while we conducted an investigation into a matter raised by Crawley Town concerning a potential contract violation related to the agreement Matty signed when he assumed the position of manager at Crawley in November 2022.

"Following a thorough review of the contract and the events that transpired during the 10 months since Matty's departure from Crawley, I have made the decision to reinstate Matty as our first team's interim head coach with immediate effect."

He added: "I want to make it clear that I do not intend to divulge the specifics of the legal advice I've received to the public.

"However, I want to emphasise that I would not have taken this step if I had any concerns about causing Colchester United to engage in improper actions."

The issue came to light when Crawley informed the U's that, although Etherington resigned as manager last December after just 32 days in charge, he remains contracted to them until May.

Garner's former assistant Scott Marshall took charge of the team at Accrington, where they registered their second away win in five days.

Crawley said on Monday they had been unaware until last Wednesday that Etherington had been in breach of contract since being appointed to his under-21s role at Colchester in June - and accepted the Essex club were not aware of it either.

They said in a statement: "When we alerted Robbie Cowling on Friday, we were told he would provide us zero compensation for Matthew."

However, the statement continued: "We have no problem if he is an under-21 coach at Colchester and if Matthew asks us permission to reassume that role, we'd be happy to grant it.

"We wish Robbie and his team the best in their ongoing managerial search."