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Northwood, who will be 60 in June, feels the time is right to vacate the Gresley hot seat after what he hopes will be seven glorious seasons at the Moat Ground helm.

But the veteran supremo, who took over from Roger Davies as manager in 1985 to spark an era of unprecedented success, hopes to remain at the Moat Ground – possibly as general manager.

Northwood said: “I feel the time is right for the decision. You can’t go on forever. I’m still very much enjoying the job, but it’s time to take a step back.”

At the end of the 1989-90 season Northwood announced his intention to retire “after one more season” but the plan fell by the wayside amid the glory of last season’s epoch-making campaign.

This time, though, Northwood insists: “I’ve made my mind up and there will be no turning back now.”

Chairman Peter Hall confirmed that Northwood had made his intentions known to the club, saying: “Frank has indicated to me that he wants to step down as manager but still wants to be associated with the club – which could be a big help to us.

“His intention is to become general manager which personally I have no qualms about, although whatever happens will obviously have to be a committee decision.

“What Frank has done for us since 1985 is unbelievable. Thanks to him – although I would stress there has been a great deal of hard work from other people at the club – we have gone from a mid table side to the undisputed top club in the West Midlands League.

“I thought he might go out in a blaze of glory after we reached Wembley last season but there’s no way we would ever blow him out of the club – he has done tremendous things for us – and all by playing good football.”

No firm candidate has emerged to replace Northwood but I understand that coach Steve Dolby would wish to be considered for the job, while Northwood has indicated that he would like to groom veteran defender Gil Land, who recently lost his first team place at Gresley, for a step up into the management team.