Gloucester City AFC have sacked their manager in the wake of a wobbly start to the Vanarama National League North season and a knockout blow on Saturday to the club's FA Cup hopes.

In a statement issued over the weekend, the club said: "Gloucester City AFC can confirm that Tim Flowers has left his role as Manager by mutual agreement.

The statement added: "To give a new manager a fresh start, his Assistant Manager Yan Klukowski has also left the club with immediate effect. The club would like to thank them for their efforts and will now focus on securing the right replacement to improve our fortunes on the pitch."

Amid chants from fans for the manager to be "sacked in the morning", the Tigers went down 3-0 in a game at Gloucester's TigerTurf Stadium against Totton AFC on Saturday. Due to illness, Mr Flowers was absent from the game, which saw the team down to ten men after a red card.

Patrick Chambers, chairman of the club, told Punchline-Gloucester.com: "It is very sad, but the atmosphere was toxic after Saturday's game and when we look at the commerciality of the club, things have been very good. I have to move to protect that: in terms of attendances and spend per head this season, the figures have been rising and our sponsors are happy, but when results make the fans unhappy you can risk a downward sprital which eventually leads to sponsors being concerned. We have to act ahead of that risk and with so much of the season to play for, we hope to keep building the great level of support we now enjoy."

Website Severn Sport reported: "The defeat to Totton is a disaster for Gloucester, who currently sit second bottom (23rd) in the National League North having won only once in their opening nine league matches."

More concerningly, the team has now failed to score in three home games in a row.

In total, Mr Flowers, who saw action earlier in his career as an England and Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper, picked up success in just one of ten and Gloucester now sits at second bottom of the table.

But the Tigers' woes are far from unique, with both of Gloucestershire's English Football League teams facing challenges in the 2023-4 season.

After a 1-0 away defeat to Exeter on Saturday, Cheltenham Town, in League One, currently sit in the relegation zone with only one team, Fleetwood, performing less effectively. So far this season, Cheltenham have played seven games and scored zero goals – a single goal on the board against Bristol Rovers being glanced in by a Rover's defender. Calls are mounting for manager Wade Elliot to resign.

And the relegation hangover for Nailsworth-based Forest Green Rovers does not appear to be entirely shaken off: FGR are undefeated for away games, but hosting Doncaster Rovers at The New Lawn on Saturday, a last-gasp, long-range strike from the visitors ensured a hoped-for share of the spoils was translated into three points for the visitors - the Green Army now hovering just above the drop zone in the League Two table.