AFC Rushden & Diamonds Manager Andy Peaks has begun his preparations for the forthcoming 2015-16 season. One of his first tasks was to enter discussions with last season’s squad, and to date he has managed to get the commitment of the following players to remain with the club as they move up to Step 4.
- Matt Finlay
- Sam Brown
- Charlie Butt
- Liam Dolman
- Jack Ashton
- Jake Gillingwater
- Brad Harris
- Richard Bunting
- Elliott Lamb-Johnson
- Tommy Berwick
- Tom Lorraine
- Joe Merrill
Russ Dunkley and Jason Turner have left the club, and AFC Rushden & Diamonds would like to thank both players for their efforts and contribution to recent successes. Matt Gearing has subsequently also departed – see here for details, as has Adam Confue as detailed here and Declan Rogers as detailed here.
Andy is continuing his discussions with other members of last season’s squad and further information on their status for next season will be published in due course.
Additionally AFC Rushden & Diamonds are able to advise that four additional players have agreed to join the club – Ollie Wilkinson, Dan Quigley, Dom Lawless and Jason Kilbride. Defender Ollie Wilkinson (27) joins from Bedford Town, where he was club captain last season after rejoining them from Daventry Town, where he had played alongside several members of the Diamonds squad. He has played at Step 3 level with both Bedford and Corby Town. Midfielder Dan Quigley (25) joins from Kings Lynn Town where he played for them at Step 3 level, having played alongside Richard Bunting to help the Linnets win promotion from Step 4. Both Quigley and Wilkinson played for Long Buckby alongside Bunting during their UCL title winning season in 2011-12. Striker Dom Lawless (28) has joined from Newport Pagnell where he had recently won their “Players’ Player of the Season” award after scoring 34 goals during the 2014/15 campaign. Before joining the Swans he had played at Banbury United and Bedford Town at Southern League level, as well as successful spells at St Ives Town and Buckingham Town.
A further addition at the start of July has been Jason Kilbride (26) from Peterborough Northern Star. Attacking midfielder Jason is an England Futsal international who helped PNS to the Hillier Cup Final last season, and he has also played at Blackstones and Bourne.
One further player has been invited to join up with the Diamonds for pre-season training – Courtney Herbert from Cogenhoe United. Forward-player Courtney has had Football League experience with Northampton Town, as well as spells with Banbury United and Corby Town.
Speaking about the work to shape next season’s squad, after the three initial signings, Manager Andy Peaks noted the following “I am delighted that the majority of last season’s squad have committed to the club for next season, I always said I wanted to see what this team can do in the league above.
“Ollie, Dan and Dom are great additions having all played at a higher level, I am sure they will fit right into the squad as they know some of the players already and will all provide great competition for places.
“I have kept an eye on Jason for a while, and Paul Lamb knows Courtney very well, so we want to have a good look at them in pre season with a view to signing on. There may well be a couple more trialists as well.
“I can’t wait to get pre-season started and we are all looking forward to what is going to be a very exciting season”
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