Note that this page is from our archive during the time when the club was called Gresley FC. It may not be related to the old Gresley Rovers.
Slater and Barrett pledge future to Gresley FC
Carl Slater and Jamie Barrett have made history by being the first players to put pen to paper for the newly formed Gresley FC.
The club are still awaiting confirmation of which league it will participate in next season but in the meantime manager Gary Norton has pulled of a surprise move in persuading two of the clubs most influential players to remain at the club albeit in its reformed guise two levels lower. The pair have signed one year deals and will form the foundation of the new look Gresley FC squad
Norton was delighted with the news saying: "The signing of Jamie and Carl is a great bit of news for the club. They have both had a number of offers and enquiries from a host of other clubs but they appear to have such an affinity for the club that they have turned these down in order to remain at Gresley - before we even know what league we are going to be playing in."
He added: "When they returned to the club last season to help us out they both showed that neither of them are money orientated by playing for just petrol expenses - however, I honestly thought that with us dropping to step 6 in the pyramid it would be a major surprise if we could persuade them to stay.
"Financially, we haven't been able to get anywhere near some of the money that they have been offered elsewhere but that hasn't had a bearing on their decision to remain here and speaks volumes about the pair of them.
"Both have said that when they have left the club in the past that they just couldn't seem to settle elsewhere and they are very excited at the prospect of playing for the club in its reformed guise despite our demotion.
"The news of them signing will give a huge boost to the club and our supporters and hopefully provide us with a good foundation on which to build the rest of our squad for the exciting challenges ahead."
Norton also revealed that many of last seasons squad have indicated that they wish to remain at the club for next season despite its reformation at step 6.
The manager is also looking to line up new signings for his squad as he looks to prepare for next season although until its known which league the club are to play in he indicated that he had only started tentative discussions with a handful of potential targets.
He said: "I have a number of targets in mind that I would like to speak to about joining us next season.
"However, until we know for definite which competition we will be in we don't know how much travelling will be involved and that could have an influence on which new players to look to bring in.
"Pre-season training starts on June 27th and for certain we hope to have a few possible new faces coming down to have a look at us."
