News

Joining Eric Graves in making a return to the club manager Gary Norton has persuaded former moatmen Keiran O’Connell and Martyn Smyth to return and both have put pen to paper this week.

Graves, O’Connel and Smyth are close friends off the pitch and had recently indicated to first team coach Jamie Barrett that all were looking if possible to play together at the same club this season if the opportunity came up and so Norton moved swiftly to get his men.

Revealing the news to the clubs website Norton commented, “We met all three of the guys last week and whilst Eric had already agreed to sign for us over the phone we had to sit down with Keiran and Martyn to try to “re-sell” the club to them as a lot of things have changed since they were last playing here.”

He added: “They of course had a number of questions about how things were going to work at the club this season both on and off the pitch and we were very open and honest about the transitional phase we are in and more importantly the huge buzz and positive vibe that’s surrounding the club and local area at the moment.

"From our point of view we felt the talks were positive but both lads wanted a little time to think things through a little more and also think about offers on the table from other clubs. I’m delighted to say that having taken a couple of days to consider their options both have signed for us".

Norton revealed last week that he and his management team had drawn up a shortlist of targets to try and bring in before pre-season training started to ensure the club had a core of players to build on.

Speaking on this he added, "Keiran and Martin were another two of the original targets that Slates, Baz and I agreed we would try to bring in a few weeks back and we are delighted our persistence has paid off".

"Similar to Eric, the reason we wanted to sign these guys is that they know the level, have great attitudes and are great lads to have in the squad both on and off the pitch.

"Martyn has loads of qualities that will make him a fans favourite once more and everyone at Gresley knows the quality Keiran possesses and what he can do on his day.

"Obviously Kieran had a major injury sometime back but he’s really keen to get back towards the standard of performance that wowed our supporters here in his last spell. Both seem really hungry to do well here again and will add key experience to our squad which will be invaluable when we add some of our younger talent to the squad during pre-season. The news of these two signing will hopefully give another lift to our supporters ahead of the new season and we are working hard behind the scenes to get a few more over the line before training starts next weekend".