to be their next manager. It was followed up with a firm approach at 9am the next day.

He was at the end of his short-term deal at Brighton but in the afterglow of an epic survival felt a loyalty to the club and signed a new deal.

They sacked him eight months later and he joined the coaching staff of Billy Bonds at Millwall.

At 59, he is now assistant manager at Ebbsfleet United, chasing promotion from the National League South.

Mayo stayed at Brighton to make more than 400 appearances and left in 2009.

Reinelt works for Network Rail. He and Lisa live in Kent and have a nine-year-old daughter called Mabel.

The 18-month deal he signed at Brighton was the last professional contract of a career which began as a teenagerat Gillingham. When he signed, he was promised improved terms if things went well but this failed to materialise and Brian Horton soon replaced Gritt as boss.

Reinelt on track during a shift at work - he lives i Kent with his wife and daughter

'I did feel let down when I left,' said Reinelt. He skipped briefly through Leyton Orient, into non-league with Stevenage and a prolific spell at Braintree before joining Grays where he started working on the railways.

'At first I was working in the stores getting stuff ready for the night guys,' he said. 'Then I got my PTS (Personal Track Safety) card, which you need to get onto the track.

'It was a killer playing on Saturday and then going to work. I'd drive back from the