Yates Gets Busy at Stourbridge

Seven agree to stay - new defender signs.

Mark Yates, manager of Pitching In Southern Football League Premier Division Central club Stourbridge, has confirmed that seven of last season's squad have agreed terms to remain with the Glassboys in 2021/22 and that he has made a second new signing.

Goalkeeper Charlie Price, who returned to the club in June 2019 from Alvechurch, having originally arrived in May 2015 from Tividale, has put pen-to-paper.

Defenders Martin Riley, Kieran Morris and Ben O’Hanlon have also agreed to remain at the War Memorial Athletic Ground.

The experienced 34-year-old Riley signed for the Glassboys in August 2020 from Vanarama National League North side Hereford, while 25-year-old Morris joined from rivals Coalville Town in February 2020.

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers and England under-16, 17 and under-18 international O’Hanlon, 25, joined the club exactly a year back from another league rivals. Hednesford Town.

Midfielders Greg Mills, Darryl Knights and Darragh Bustin have also penned new deals.

Former Derby County man Mills was Stourbridge`s player of the year for 2018/19 before he moved to Bromsgrove Sporting in October 2019.

He returned to the War Memorial Athletic Ground for 2019/20 under Mark Yates and now looks to add to his 67 appearances and 30 goals for the Glassboys.

Knights is another former England Youth cap who signed for the club in June last year from National League North side AFC Telford United.

Wide player Bustin is another ex-Wolves youngster who re-signed for Stourbridge in February 2020 having been with the club as a youngster.

In addition, three members of Stourbridge`s academy side will be reporting for pre-season training and will feature as part of the first team squad during the course of next season.

The trio of players are defender Harvey Portman, who made his first-team debut as a second half substitute against Stamford last October, midfielder Josh Marsden and attacker or wide player Daniel Gyasi.

Yates told his club`s website: "We're delighted to have this group back. We're setting out to build a strong squad that will make us very competitive in the division as we look to challenge for promotion. These players, along with the exciting new signing announcements that we will be making in the coming days, are a key component in that."

Re-uniting with Yates is experienced defender Lee Vaughan.

The Birmingham-born, 34-year-old former England C international arrives from National League outfit Barnet where he spent the last two months of the 2020/21 campaign.

He started his career in the youth ranks at Birmingham City and Portsmouth before being signed by then Walsall player-boss Paul Merson in February 2005.

Whilst with the Saddlers he had loan spells with Willenhall Town and AFC Telford United before signing for the Bucks in the summer of 2006.

After four years with the Shropshire outfit, he moved to Kidderminster Harriers in May 2010.

He made over 150 appearances for Harriers and was named in the Conference 'team of the season' for the 2012/13 campaign before he was handed the chance to play League football in the summer of 2014 when Mark Yates swooped to sign him for Cheltenham Town.

He was a regular in the Robins first team during a difficult 2014/15 season that ultimately saw them relegated to the National League, but after featuring less regularly early on in the 2015/16 season he was signed on loan by Tranmere Rovers in November 2015 with that move being made more permanent in January 2016.

His performances in the 2016/17 season earned him a second selection to the National League’s ‘team of the season’, despite his campaign being curtailed by a leg fracture.

Ahead of the 2017/18 season, he returned to Kidderminster for a second stint and after recovering from injury, he took his tally of club appearances to over 200 before he was signed by National League side Solihull Moors in February 2019 where Tim Flowers was in charge.

He made 35 appearances for the Moors before being released at the end of the 2019/20 season and his playing career then moved full circle as he once more returned to Telford in the summer of 2020.

Once the National League North campaign was curtailed early this year, Flowers moved in to take him to Barnet early in March 2021 and although the former Blackburn Rovers and England goalkeeper`s time at the helm of the Bees subsequently proved short-lived, Vaughan stayed on before being freed at the expiry of his short-term contract at the end of the season.

Stourbridge Web Site