WORCESTER City have confirmed that midfielder Robbie Thompson-Brown has left the club.

Thompson-Brown signed in the summer and was named vice-captain behind skipper Adam Mace, but has now taken a player-coach role at Studley FC in the Midland Football League Premier.

It was a shock announcement in the hours before the Hellenic League Premier win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town given his performances and regular appearance in the starting eleven for City.

But Worcester boss Chris Cornes admitted it was an opportunity for Thompson-Brown to pursue his future career in management.

"He (Thompson-Brown) let me know about it and we spoke about it all week and Robbie sees this is the next step in his career," he said.

"Mike Fowler (manager at Studley) is an extremely good coach with all the qualifications you could ask for and it is a fantastic opportunity for Robbie to get into management and learn from someone who is a brilliant coach in Fowler, who I have also been speaking to recently and we get on well.

"Everything was transparent, there hasn't been any sort of fall out. I have known Robbie for a long, long time and who knows if our paths will cross again. This is just the next step for Robbie to take and I wish him all the very best."

Thompson-Brown was in the squad for Studley on Saturday but he could not help his new side win, as they went down 4-2 to Stone Old Alleynians in the MFL Premier.

It was a fourth defeat in a row for The Bees after what had been a very good start to the 2023/24 season but they remain in fourth place in the table.