RYAN Aldridge signed off on Sunday night as Swindon Wildcats’ head coach after overseeing his final game and believes he is leaving the club in a better place than it was at when he joined.

Aldridge, who started his career in the Swindon Academy, re-signed back in October 2008 after impressing against Bracknell Bees and Sheffield Scimitars the previous weekend.

More than six years later, he has helped grow the club on and off the ice alongside general manager Steve Nell.

Aldridge took the opportunity to step down having taken the club as far as he thought he was possible to, moving to work with the Okanagan Academy, with Stevie Lyle coming in to replace him, a decision he admits is yet to fully sink in.

“I came back to play for a weekend and ended up staying for six-and-a-half years,” said Aldridge after his final game in charge on Sunday night.

“It has been fun. Watching it all grow has been a bit of a graft at times but I am a strong believer that it is one of the most stable and one of the most exciting and growing clubs in the country.

“I still believe that, and I think it is going to go on to bigger and better things.

“Every aspect has been a learning curve for all of us. I am sure a lot of the teams want to speak to Steve (Nell) on that and how we build it up. It is not just on the ice, it is a lot of off the ice activity behind the scenes.

“Nobody told us what to do, we just built it up by hand. It is funny because there used to just be two or three of us in the office, then there was four, then there was five and six and then we had to move to a bigger office and it is exciting.

“It is down to the dedication that Steve puts into it really, because he wants it to be successful.

“Last night (Saturday) a lot of people were writing some nice stuff on Facebook and I didn’t want to worry about that before the game but I am sure it will be emotional when it really kicks in.

“I haven’t really thought about leaving to be honest with you until it is over because I had a job to do, but I am sure I will wake up in the morning and it will sink in.”

With Swindon crashing out of the play-offs at the quarter-final stage with a 6-4 aggregate defeat to Peterborough Phantoms, Lyle will soon be working on his new team for next season.

Aaron Nell and Stevie Whitfield are already confirmed for the next campaign and Aldridge says that he will be working closely with Lyle over the summer to make sure the transition is a smooth one.

“Stevie and I have known each other since we were eight or nine-years-old. If he ever wants to pick the phone up to call me, I will be there,” added Aldridge.

“I am sure I will be spending a lot of time with him through the summer as well doing stuff but it is his gig now so crack on.”