Barton Rovers have been able to announce no fewer than 18 players from last season’s squad who have committed for the campaign ahead.
Having secured a 12th-place finish in the Pitching In Southern League Division One Central last term, manager, Jermaine Hall, is keen to use it as a springboard this time around.
“Retaining the majority of the squad was the main focus going into the close season,” Hall admitted to us. “The boys made it easy for me because none of them wanted to leave. Some had tempting offers or offers from higher levels, but the togetherness of the group meant they all decided to stay, which I was delighted about.
“I learned a lot about the squad last year and they’ve learned a lot about me and each other, so that gives us a head-start going into pre-season.
“We only need to add a few players to the group. I had two players that I was really keen to sign; one agreed very early and the other one a week or so ago.
“Those two alone make our group a lot stronger. Outside of that, I spoke to a couple who decided to go elsewhere and we have a few coming in pre-season to see if they’ll be a good fit for us, and us for them.
“Last season was all about creating a good group of lads who shared the values of the club and build a strong foundation for future years. Instead of focusing on results, it was more focusing on mentality and attitude.
“We had some really good performances and results, which we set as a standard for the coming season. We struggled with consistency at times, but it’s all learning curves.
“I believe the League has been stronger than it was last time out, but it was exciting because everyone could beat each other and that showed week after week with some unexpected results.
“The best two teams in the division went up in the end. This season everyone knows who the favourites will be, but outside of the top one or two teams, there will be plenty of clubs who fancy getting into the play-offs.
“Now we’ve built a solid foundation, we will have higher expectations of ourselves. We’ll have to see how the first few weeks of pre-season goes, then we will have a team meeting to discuss our targets as a group.
“We will hope to have a good start and find some consistency, then who knows what we can achieve?”
IMAGE: Barton Rovers FC
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