Talks begin as Bards prepare for next campaign

TALKS have begun between Stratford Town head coach Paul Davis and this season’s players with meetings also being arranged with a number of potential new signings.

And there could be new additions off the field as well with the club looking to bring in new volunteers ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Players cannot officially register before the start of June but the Bards boss confirmed that initial talks have been positive.

Davis said: “We have currently agreed with ten of last season’s squad with conversations ongoing with the others.

“We don’t want to lose anyone so they have all been offered something, but we also want to add to the group. It is now down to them to decide if they want to stay.”

One of those still to sit down with Davis is striker Andre Wright who was on loan for much of last season following a major injury.

On Monday, he helped Evesham United win promotion to step three after they beat Malvern Town in the Southern League Division One South play-off final.

“I’m really pleased for Andre, he has had a successful back end of the season over at Evesham,” Davis said.

“There was a chance that we would have recalled him from his loan to help with our run-in when we had so many games in a short space of time, but we decided that it was the best thing for the player to remain at Evesham and we’re really pleased that he has helped them get promoted.

“After his injury he came back, did his rehab really well and was doing fine only to come out the side again at the end of September.

“When you have been out of the game for so long, it is difficult to maintain your fitness levels so he went out on loan to Stafford Rangers where he did well and then went to Evesham where he did even better.

“While our focus is on bringing in some extra firepower, we also need to look at the defence where we have had Aaron Lacey on loan from Oxford United for the latter part of the season and it is no secret that we played the last few games without a recognised right-back with Dan Vann being out injured.

“We don’t need a lot, just some magic in certain positions so that we can go one step further than this season. The club is ready off the pitch with the infrastructure in place and we need to make sure that we get it right on the pitch.

“It is also important to get people to the club rather than just having conversations on the phone – I like them to see the surroundings and to bring their families in to meet those who are important around the club.”

Off the field, chairman Jed McCrory is in the process of bringing in a number of volunteers to help the club’s growth. These will include a football foundation manager to coordinate community engagement and also events, commercial and social media volunteers to help promote the Bards.