Soccer Shorts: Managers make signings in time for big kick-off

Click here for tonight’s Soccer Shorts - news snippets from Kent sides at all levels of the game.

EBBSFLEET UNITED boss Liam Daish has bolstered his squad, ahead of their Blue Square Premier opener against relegated side Mansfield Town at Stonebridge Road tomorrow.

Dean Pooley and Kezie Ibe have come through pre season trials to secure deals with Ebbsfleet United.

Pooley, 21, who was born in Sidcup, began his career with Millwall before spending a period this year in the League of Ireland with Bohemians.

Essentially a defender, 6' 1" Pooley scored two goals during the Fleet's West Country tour in matches against Torpoint Athletic and Bodmin Town. His signature had been held up as Fleet worked to obtain the necessary international clearance which has now been granted.

Ibe, who also had a trial at Brentford this summer, recently appeared as substitute during Ebbsfleet's 4-0 victory over Cray Wanderers in the Kent Senior Cup Final at Bromley.

The 25-year-old forward was part of Chelmsford's Ryman Premier League-winning side last season and has also played for Yeovil Town, Exeter City, Staines Town and Aylesbury United.

Both players have signed one-year contracts.

SAMMY MOORE gave Dover Athletics boss Andy Hessenthaler a boost by scoring his first goal for the club after making his first start following injury, writes Justin Allen.

Moore and fellow midfield star Jon Wallis, both netted as Dover pulled back from 3-0 down against an impressive-looking Crystal Palace side on Tuesday night to end up losing 3-2.

And Hessenthaler, although disappointed to have conceded three goals, was delighted with the overall performance and the fitness of Moore.

He told www.doverathletic.com: “I thought we could’ve defended a bit better but to be fair to the lads the first goal was never a penalty. The Palace lad has been very clever and conned the ref. Also Palace scored a couple of good goals but I’m never happy to let in three.

“However, looking at the bigger picture, we won’t be playing teams of that calibre, with no disrespect, in the Ryman Premier Division.

“I was impressed with the way we played second half and it was great to see Sammy looking very fit and sharp after his injury. That was a big plus point. His performance was impressive and I’m sure he is raring to go now.”

Hessenthaler admits that he will not be in any rush to sign a striker now - unless “one of the right calibre” becomes available.

He said: “Supporters need to be patient. This is a work in progress - and we’ll be always looking for good strikers. I will be snapping one up if the right man is available - but we have a very good squad. I think we’re certainly good enough to be in the promotion shake-up.

“There will be more goals from midfield this season. Sammy certainly knows where the back of the net is and Jon Wallis will be looking to improve his tally.

“Up front, we look very good. We have Frannie Collin, Lee Browning and Shaun Welford, all good players. And I believe we’ve got great options down the flank. Nathan Bailey is improving all the time and we all think he has the potential to go on and become a good player.

“Everything is looking good and there is no room for anyone to rest on their laurels. The competition for places is exactly what we wanted.”

MAIDSTONE UNITED have signed a lucrative new sponsorship deal with Icom – a local company which supplies, maintains and supports business telecommunications, network services and cabling.

The deal, which will see the Stones sporting the Icom logo on their first team strip, is for a three-year period.

The sponsorship is for an undisclosed amount, but both parties can confirm that the sums involved are substantial.

Maidstone United chairman Paul Bowden-Brown has welcomed the new deal and is looking forward forward to working with the company over the next few years.

He told www.maidstoneunited.co.uk : “The current economic climate has made seeking any kind of sponsorship challenging. However, good things come to those who wait and we’re delighted to secure this three-year deal with Icom, which will be a real partnership as we bring the club home to Kent’s county town.”

Icom managing director John Donoghue and his fellow directors are all keen followers of football.

He said: “As a communications company, we know how important it is to get your message out there and through Maidstone United we have a great opportunity to promote Icom through football. We are both ambitious and professional in our work, which I hope will make for a rewarding partnership.”

The deal comes at a perfect time for the club and is a major boost for their plans for this coming season’s campaign in Ryman Premier Division, which kicks off on Saturday 16 August with an away match at Heybridge Swifts, followed by home fixtures against Canvey Island on Tuesday 19 August and Harlow Town on Saturday 23 August.

DARTFORD manager Tony Burman has this week released Scott Holding, who has returned to East Thurrock United.

Holding was invited to pre-season training with the Ryman Premier League new-boys but it is felt that to recover from his serious injury he will need to be playing on a regular basis.

Burman will be watching Holding’s progress over the forthcoming season with the Ryman League Division One North club.

ASHFORD TOWN are delighted to announce that Daniel Brathwaite has agreed a new one-year contract with the club.

Despite agreeing terms with Harrow Borough, Brathwaite has decided that his future lies with the Nuts and Bolts.

The former Dover Athletic left-back had previously turned down a new deal due to the long distance he had to travel from his home to Ashford but after the club and player weighed up the options, Brathwaite has committed himself to the Homelands club.

Manager Steve Lovell, speaking to www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk now believes he has perfect balance down the left-hand side of his first team.

He said: "It's great to get him back. Now we have Danny, Robbie Ryan, Jimmy Bottle, Danny Lye and Charlie Glyde who can all play on the left so we are delighted with the strength that we have in the squad."

Club co-owner, Don Crosbie, is pleased that Brathwaite has opted to stay with the ambitious Kent club.

“We are delighted that Dan has made up his mind,” he told the fans’ forum at www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk.

“He can’t play anywhere else other than the Ashford Town team he has helped to build.

“We understood the problems of travel and distance Dan had to go through and respected the fact that it was he who had to be comfortable in accommodating the journey’s.

“It is testament to the high regard and respect our team have for Steve Lovell and we now have the balance and strength in depth for a great season ahead.”

FOLKESTONE INVICTA are delighted to announce that former Ashford Town chairman Mark Jenner has agreed to join the club’s board with immediate effect, writes Tom Marchant.

Mr Jenner resigned as chairman of their Ryman League Division One South rivals last week, after spending the last two years in the position, having been chief executive with Ashford for five years before.

“I was contacted by a couple of the directors from Folkestone who knew I was unsettled a little while back and they asked me whether I was interested in coming down and joining and I believe I can do things for Folkestone,” Mr Jenner told www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk.

“I make things happen in my professional job where I’m the problem solver and the one who puts out the fires and I’m the one who fixes things. If I can spend a little bit of my time on Folkestone Invicta and make a difference then I would’ve done my job.”

Mr Jenner is company secretary at Freshwater Property Management, based in London’s West End with an investment portfolio worth over £2.5 billion.

He has long been a visitor to the Buzzlines Stadium and is known by a number of people around the club including Supporters Club chairman Clive Arnold and diehard fan John ‘Stumpy’ Harrison.

He said: “When I was at Ashford I used to come and watch Folkestone on alternate weeks and I’ve seen all the big games. I was there the night that Paul Sykes died, I saw the Kent Senior Cup game against Margate and I’ve been watching ever since you stole Neil Cugley from Ashford! I’m pretty familiar and I know a lot of the people like Stumpy and Clive pretty well and Nigel (Busbridge) and Jim Pellatt I’d met several times before.”

Mr Jenner leaves the Homelands along with friend and business associate Tim Thorogood. The pair were critical to the survival of Ashford over the last decade where Thorogood dealt with the footballing side of matters and Mark the off the field activities.

“Up until last year the club (Ashford) was owned by Tim Thorogood and he ran the football side and I ran all the rest; the function side, the fundraising and all the finance and it worked very well,” explained Mr Jenner.

“The only reason why that stopped was because Tim wanted to sell the club and bring in outside investors which we did and neither of us now want to stay with the new investors and so we’ve come away from the club”.

Folkestone’s new director has earmarked several areas for improvement and has already set about on a number of projects around the Buzzlines Stadium.

He explained: “What I’ve arranged first and the fans don’t see this but the changing rooms and the showers for players home and away are appalling. I’ve arranged for all the tiling and fittings in the showers to be completely redone and which will be redone free of charge.

“Incidentally, Tim Thorogood is the contractor and he does a lot of work on my properties so he’ll come down and do bits and pieces which I twist his arm for! But I know he’ll be pleased to do it.

“I’ve got 80 new banqueting chairs to go in Stripes. I need 150 but I‘ve half of them sitting in my garage which I’ll get delivered to the ground. We’ve got to drive more funds out of the Stripes Club and it needs redecorating, revamping and new equipment so I’ve got half the chairs to start with and I’ll get the rest over the coming weeks so you’ve got 150 decent, matching chairs and hopefully some tables.

“Neil Cugley rang me up yesterday saying he was desperate for some white boards for tactics in the changing rooms and they’re about £100 each and he wanted two of them and I got them today. I’ve got a new board room table also free of charge as the other one is falling to bits.

“What I’m good at is scrounging things and finding somebody who can get me what I need so I’ve asked the other directors to start thinking about a wish list of things we need to start improving the place, things that can help the club and hopefully help to bring in more money.”

Mr Jenner has also lined up several new sponsors and knows commercial manager Peter Young from their time at Ashford.

“Peter has only had a year and I think he has already made a big difference,” he said. “He’s bringing in steady money and he did the brewery deal and he just needs to be steered in the right direction to make sure he keeps bringing it in.

“I’ve got a couple of sponsors I’m bringing in who will bring in modest amounts of money for the Football Club. What you can’t get at this level or you’ll be very lucky to get is big lumps of money from individual firms. But instead of looking for say £20,000 from one person, if you can find half a dozen that’ll give you £3,000 then you’ve got more people involved with different revenue streams and that’s the best way to do it.”

On the pitch, the former Ashford chairman is well aware of the challenge Folkestone face this season as they seek to reach the peaks of Ryman Division One South, with the Homelands club having spent several seasons in the Division.

Invicta manager Neil Cugley has almost completed revamping his squad in a major flurry of early pre season transfer activity which saw fans favourite and goal machine James Dryden return home to Cheriton Road rejecting the overtures of Dover Athletic.

Mr Jenner said: “We’ve got a strong squad and the trick now is for Neil (Cugley) who knows this level of the game as well or better than anybody, to knock them into shape and get them competitive and winning games. You can have the best players in the world but unless you can get them to play together and score goals, that’s the key.

“You’ve got Fleet, Met Police who will be strong, Dulwich, Cray are likely to be there near the top and Ashford will be top six but I’m not sure they’re better than that. Hopefully Folkestone will be up in the top 3 as that’s what you want to bring the people back. You’ve got to play exciting football and provide an attractive product for people to part with their hard earned cash.

“If you’re up in the top three or four, it doesn’t matter what division and your winning your home games people will come back. We need to be up in the top three or four by the first week so people start taking an interest again and if we can score 3, four goals a game that will help as well.”

In what could prove a decisive season for Invicta with on the field expectations justifiably high at the Buzzlines Stadium and the club set to push forward off the field, Jenner emphasised the need for everyone to play their part in the various developments.

He said: “The club has got to be firing on all cylinders. It’s no good being good at one thing and ignoring the rest because you’ll die. You’ve got to have all threads firing, all at the same time, whether it’s the commercial side, in the boardroom, the pitch and maintenance, as well as the payers, everything.

“We’re all in it together and we’ve got to move forwards; supporters, directors, players, grounds management, commercial, we’re all in it together. We need to get a good spirit and hopefully we can move forward. On and off the pitch, if you stand still at this level you die.”

Meanwhile, Cugley has captured the signature of left-sided player Mark Green from Ryman Premier League side Dartford.

Cugley has also confirmed that terms have been offered to former Dover Athletic winger Byron Walker, who is currently on trial at Cheriton Road.

DEAL TOWN’S Lee Jones has decided to retire from football due to work commitments.

A club statement on www.dealtownfc.co.uk said: “A player of his calibre is going to be greatly missed. We would like to wish Lee best wishes for the future and I’m sure there will always be a place in our squad if he was to reconsider.”

GREENWICH BOROUGH manager Steve Ferkins is looking forward to his first game in charge - away to Erith Town at Bayliss Avenue next Monday.

Numerous players from last season’s squad have been snapped up by other Bulmers Cider Kent League clubs so the former Corinthian-Casuals’ reserve team manager has had to build a new side from scratch.

“We are very pleased with our pre-season results and the way the team have been playing, although we were beaten 2-0 in our last game, against a very useful Enfield team,” Ferkins told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“We have signed all the players that we targeted and picked up one or two decent players through trials.

“As regards to our forthcoming season, we are all looking forward to our first game against Erith Town, which will be a good test for us as a new team.

“Overall, we would like to establish ourselves in the top half of the division and build for the future.”

LORDSWOOD, who open their Bulmers Cider Kent League campaign at Croydon tomorrow, have utilised the contacts of their management team.

Former Tunbridge Wells assistant Martin Telford has brought in Barrington “Buster” Beaney, Bradley Mortimer, Steve Wade, Dan Barham and Joe Wade, who were all with Telford at Culverden Stadium under Kevin Metcalf’s leadership a couple of season’s ago.

Lordswood has also signed former Ashford Town central defender Tony Ritrvarto.

Lords manager Kevin Phillips, meanwhile, has signed players from his former club Chatham Town, where he was reserve team manager.

Miroslav Oravech, Sam Phillips, Bradley King, Pat Bishenden have all been signed from Lords’ Ryman League Division One North neighbours.

TUNBRIDGE WELLS boss Mike Robbins has signed three new players on the eve of their Bulmers Cider Kent League opener against VCD Athletic.

Ross Cable, Matt Foreman and Phil Rhodes have all signed ahead of the Culverden Stadium clash.

The signing of this trio rounds out the side, and first team manager Mike Robbins is now happy he has a squad capable of meeting his targets for the new season.

Cable will need few introductions as he has regularly been on target against The Wells over the past few years.

A seasoned campaigner, the striker has played - and scored - for Faversham Town, Beckenham Town and Thamesmead Town in the past.

Last year, he bagged 20 goals from stints with Erith Town and Croydon - and he has already made his intentions clear for his spell with The Wells, hitting a hat-trick in Tuesday’s final pre-season friendly against Westfield.

“All I want to do is play football - and provided the chances are being created, I’m going to be pretty happy here,” Cable explains, when speaking to www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk.

Scoring the other goal in the Westfield match was Matt Foreman, 18, who joins from Brighton & Hove Albion.

Foreman has been on Brighton’s books for two years and plays an attacking role just behind the strike force.

Foreman - comfortable with the ball at either foot - brings strength into the side, and looks forward to starting to enjoy his football again - something he believes he is already beginning to do.

Rhodes, meantime, arrives at Tunbridge Wells from last year’s Sussex League winners Crowborough Athletic, where his instrumental role in The Crows’ success earned him the Manager’s Player-of-the-Year award.

Rhodes revealed that he is excited about this new chapter in his career and that he has already noticed differences in the team set-up.

Of particular importance to Rhodes is that “The Wells are a footballing side who like to knock the ball around.”

“These signings are the final pieces of the jigsaw,” Robbins told www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk.

“We now have solid competition in every area of the pitch for what is the start of my first full season in charge. Tomorrow we kick off against VCD with my players and my targets in place.”

But Robbins warns supporters not to harbour unrealistic expectations ahead of tomorrow’s match.

“To place The Wells as favourites this year would be a little premature. We ended last year well, and that kind of form over the course of a season would have seen us finish in the top five - but the results in the second half of the season were purely about pride. They didn’t mean a lot as far as the bigger picture goes.

“Now we need to see if we can start like we finished. If we can, I’ll be ‘over-the-moon’. That’s the first target. VCD will be the benchmark tomorrow. Most people consider them favourites for the title - so let’s just see how we measure up against them. And if we do get a good start, the second target will be to maintain it over the course of several months!

“We do certainly have a lot of talent here at Culverden - and if the players can express themselves how we want, then there’s no reason why we can’t do well.”

Visit club websites:

www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk

www.doverathletic.com

www.maidstoneunited.co.uk

www.dartfordfc.co.uk

www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk

www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk

www.greenwichboroughfc.co.uk

www.lordswoodfc.com

www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk