RUGBY TOWN: Squad of 15 ready for start of training

Rugby Town’s new manager James Jepson has continued to add to his squad over the past week, writes Jon Venner.

Two more new players have been announced alongside the commitment of two others who featured for the club last season.

The new men are goalkeeper Ben Gathercole and midfielder Glyn Cotton, whilst Tom Ryan and Jonathon Thorpe also agreed a return to Butlin Road for the 2016/17 campaign.

Gathercole joins from fellow NPL South Division Shaw Lane to conclude a second spell at the Barnsley based club which had started this February.

The 23-year-old stopper has also played for Ilkeston, Alfreton and Worksop since being released from the Nottingham Forest Academy.

Thirty-year-old Cotton was most recently at another of Town’s division rivals Sheffield FC as part of a wealth of NPL experience having also had spells with Goole, Stocksbridge, Belper, Frickley, Matlock, Leek, Coalville and Lincoln United.

Neither of the newbies played against Rugby in the games against their respective previous clubs in the second half of last season, but their announcement now brings the total of potential arrivals to 11, with Ryan, Thorpe, the contracted David Kolodynski and the possibility of a playing role for Jepson boosting the current squad total to 15.

Centre-half Ryan made 36 appearances at the heart of Town’s defence last season having signed from Banbury – scooping the Vice Presidents’ Player of the Year award, whilst ex-Cambridge United man Thorpe impressed in a handful of appearances in a left-sided role as part of a return from a long term knee injury.

A few of last season’s Rugby squad – including star man Kevin Thornton and midfielder Rob Parker, who missed just one game – have yet to confirm their plans for the forthcoming campaign, and with pre-season training set to start this weekend, there is bound to be further additions to (and movement out of) the Valley roster.

Full list of players that have agreed deals to-date: Goalkeeper: Ben Gathercole. Defenders: Nathan Fox, Jorna Moulton, Aiden Print, Tom Ryan, Jonathon Thorpe. Midfielders: Glyn Cotton, Andy Gooding, Conor Green, Louis Hamilton, James Jepson. Forwards: David Kolodynski, Alando Lewis, Aron Wint, Jake Woolley.