In June 2016, the club appointed former Watford and Stoke City striker Gifton Noel-Williams as to be their Reserves and Under-18's manager. It was expected that there would be closer ties between the first team and the other age groups at the club, a vision spearheaded by chairman Ian Barry, however in early October Noel-Williams left his role and Dave Fox was re-appointed shortly after. Manager Mark Burgess suffered the blow of losing eight of the 2015-16 squad, including George Nicholas, Max Holland, player of the year Andy Lomas and captain Steve Brown to Harrow Borough in the summer of 2016.