Date: Fri 25 Sep 2020

By Steve Whitney

Ducket Quits Bedford - Coup Striker Signing

Manager leaves but new forward arrives.

Mark Ducket

Mark Ducket

Shortly after Bedford Town confirmed they had accepted the resignation of manager Mark Ducket, the Pitching In Southern Football League Division One Central club revealed the coup signing of striker Craig Mackail-Smith.

Ducket was appointed in January 2020 to replace Nathan Abbey.

He had played for the Eagles in two spells and resigned as manager of Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division side Eynesbury Rovers to take the helm at The New Eyrie.

However, he has quit the club after a defeat to league rivals Daventry Town in the Emirates FA Cup and a 3-0 loss at Thame United in their opening league game last Saturday.

In a statement, Ducket said: “It is with the deepest regret that I resign as manager of Bedford Town.

“Unfortunately, the owner and I had different opinions on some player recruitment.

“I`m so grateful to have had the opportunity to manage some talented footballers and some even better lads, but I`ve been brought up with strong beliefs and even stronger integrity and have learned how things should be done correctly throughout my footballing career so far.”

Mackail-Smith (left) is a former England C and full Scottish international striker who joins the Eagles after being released by Championship new boys Wycombe Wanderers in June.

He was part of the promoting-winning Chairboys side of 2017/18 - his first season at the club - and left Adams Park more than a year-and-a-half since his last Wycombe outing – a 2-0 home defeat against Coventry City on New Year`s Day 2019.

He played 68 games for Wycombe in all competitions and scored 13 goals for the club.

He joined Wycombe on a free transfer from Luton Town in August 2017.

He arrived at Adams Park initially on a one-year deal having clocked up over 500 senior appearances in a career stretching back to his time with then Isthmian League St Albans City.

His most prolific spell came at Peterborough United where he scored 99 goals in 212 appearances.

His success at Posh prompted Brighton & Hove Albion to fork out a £2.5m transfer fee in the summer of 2011.

He returned to Peterborough for a loan spell while at Brighton, before joining the Hatters in August 2015 to re-unite with former Dagenham & Redbridge boss John Still.

However, he suffered an injury-hit time at Kenilworth Road and found himself back on loan at Peterborough before being released at the end of the
2016/17 campaign.

At the start of the 2019/20 season, it was announced that he had agreed to a loan move to League Two side Stevenage until 12th January 2020.

The deal was later extended until the end of the 2019/20 season but with the campaign cut short due to the COVID-19 situation, he eventually returned to Wycombe to continue training, before being released just a few days after Wanderers had been promoted to the Championship via the play-offs.

He won 7 caps for England C whilst on the books at Dagenham, scoring 4 goals, and then represented Scotland, through his Scottish grandmother, also 7 times, scoring a goal against Liechtenstein.

Bedford Town Web Site

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