Claridge to take up non-league post

Steve Claridge has rejected a one-year extension to his Millwall contract and is poised to be named as manager of non-league Weymouth.

The 37-year-old will bring the curtain down on a 20-year career spanning 12 clubs by returning to the Dr Martens League Premier Division club where he spent three years during the 1980s.

Claridge hit 29 league goals in 91 games for the Lions, and was the club’s player of the year for the 2001-02 season.

But he slipped down the pecking order last season with the arrival of Mark McCammon from Brentford and was unhappy with the terms of his new deal.

The former Portsmouth player-manager is among hundreds of players out of contract this summer and Weymouth’s new chairman Ian Ridley confirmed he is set to be named as the Terras’ new boss.

Claridge formally announces the decision this afternoon.