Former Swindon Town head coach Ben Garner said that his decision to leave the club was largely based on a change in structure at the club.

Garner spent one season at the County Ground, leading Swindon to the League Two play-offs after being appointed just over two weeks before the start of the season.

The 43-year-old was speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire ahead of Town taking on Newport County on Saturday and was asked about the reasons why he left the club to join Charlton Athletic shortly after the end of the 2021/22 season.

He said: “No, not just that [the allure of Charlton], to be honest. Charlton had actually approached [me] twice before towards the end of that season and I had rejected the approaches and made it clear they had to go through the club, which they did.

“At the time my focus was on Swindon, and I felt we would go up and if we didn’t then I felt very confident that we could build and go up automatically the next season.

“At that stage, my focus was on staying at Swindon, I was loving it and I thought we were building something special.

“And the only change was when we did lose the [play-off] second leg and it became clear that Ben Chorley was going to be leaving and there were going to be changes behind the scenes with how the club was going to be run.

“It became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to work the same way that I had been working and that was when I took the decision to speak to Charlton and I did feel that was a fantastic opportunity in terms of the potential of Charlton.”

Garner said that the role of former Director of Football Chorley had been pivotal to his time at Swindon and his departure had played a big role in his decision to leave.

He said: “I think looking back the key was, I had never met Ben Chorley, but we met and we were really aligned, very similar backgrounds and beliefs and what we wanted in terms of playing principles.

“His work ethic, the number of games and players that he watches builds that database and knowledge of players.

“He also does more due diligence than I have ever known anyone in recruitment does with phone calls regarding players’ character.”