Former Carlisle United favourite David Raven is at the centre of a row which has seen a club reported to the FA.

The ex-Blues defender is set to leave Marine in order to return to Warrington Town as assistant manager.

But the circumstances of the impending move has angered Marine to the point they have asked the Football Association and Northern Premier League to take action against Warrington.

The Merseyside club, where 36-year-old Raven has played since the summer of 2020, released a statement.

It said: Marine Football Club have been informed that David is to join Warrington Town as their Assistant Manager.

Contract player David recently expressed his desire to leave the club and join Warrington Town.

Marine have repeatedly tried to persuade David to remain at the club until the end of the season to fulfil his contractual obligations before taking his path into management. 

Despite the club offering a number of options to support David in his request for an amicable departure, none of these were accepted. David then informed the club he is retiring from football with immediate effect.

As far as Marine are concerned David is still a contract player up until the end of the current season.

Due to how events have unfolded over the past 2 weeks Marine have reported Warrington Town to both the FA Integrity department and the Northern Premier League.

The club will not be making any further statement regarding the matter.

Raven, who played for United from 2006-10, making 154 appearances and scoring one goal, has played a key part for Marine in recent times, not least in their FA Cup run last season when they faced Tottenham in the third round.

He had previously been a player with Warrington from 2018-20. The former Blues defender was a summariser for some Carlisle games on BBC Radio Cumbria last season.

The Warrington Guardian have invited Warrington Town to respond to Marine's statement. The Cantilever Park club have yet to issue any comment.

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