For professional teams, Deadline Day is a day where Jim White becomes relevant for a few hours in his yellow tie, purple dildos in the background of news presenters at stadiums and overspending clubs who panic buy.
However, this don’t normally involve non league clubs as it is slightly different below the professional pyramid as there is no Deadline Day for clubs, allowing clubs to purchase players or use the loan market all season round. Yet on rare occasions with non league players on contracts they could be targeted by football league clubs who need to get the deals done by the end of the transfer window as we’ve seen on Thursday September 1st 2022.
Even though it didn’t make the breaking news yellow bar on Sky Sports, Banbury United we’re involved on transfer Deadline Day.
This started by an ominous looking tweet from @SportspeteO who tweeted at 22:52 “Swindon have agreed a deal for Banbury winger Morgan Roberts. #STFC #banbury “ . This tweet got Banbury fans worried and was later confirmed from the clubs official Twitter page at 23:30 Morgan Roberts has moved to Swindon town for a transfer fee. Yet even though every fan is upset by the news, there are many positives to come from this situation rather than the one negative which is we’ve lost a fantastic talent in Morgan.
The first positive is we’ve received a transfer fee for a player. This is rare in non league as players don’t have contracts and are playing on non contract terms. Yet the board, Andy Whing and Kevin Healy who deals with the contractual dealings have done a fantastic job in pushing to get players to sign contracts so we can end up in situations like this. From listening to fans on the terrace I believe only two of our current squad are not on contract, which is a massive positive again as we have got so many young talented players who could easily step up to higher levels in the footballing pyramid thus showing the club has done a great job in protecting our prize assets. Furthermore, as a fan owned club this transfer fee is massive for us to help be sustainable on and off the pitch which will prove vital in the long run as we are competing against full time teams who possess big budgets.
Secondly, another positive for this is Andy Whing has created a pathway of success which can provide a massive hand in any future transfer negotiations for our targets in the fact that we can help players get back into the full time game. Morgan is a perfect example of this who made 16 appearances in all competitions for his local side Northampton town before his release who then decided to embark his trade in the non league game with the Puritans. During his 63 games at the club, Morgan has scored 23 goals, 4 in his first 6 games so far this season playing in a forward pairing showing his versatility that he can play St, in the 10, and on both wings. Furthermore, Morgan has contributed to two FA Cup first round appearances as well as being a centurion champion of the Southern League Central Premier division. He will leave Banbury as a club legend and go down as a great due to the impact he has made in his second spell for the club.
As well as Morgan we’ve recently had the success of Chris Wreh because of Andy Whing stewardship who had helped the forward have his most successful season to date with 39 goal contributions in 46 games, which then led to Southend offering him a one year deal, thus creating CW9 a full time footballer too in which he’s received 2 MOTM awards in his first two starts whilst scoring 1 goal so far for the Shrimpers. Lastly, Banbury landed the young defender James Golding on loan from Oxford United in February, who went on to be a superstar for the club both at Centre-Back and right back, and has now gone back to league 1 Oxford and got a start against premier league opposition Crystal Palace in the EFL cup in addition to earning his second league start in the league 4 days later away at Cheltenham. This means 3 of our centurions have gone onto the professional game all under Andy Whing. Having these 3 players go into the professional game has probably been the reason why Burton Albion has trusted us with their scholar of the year Ben Radcliffe as they know we can help aid players potential. This is a positive sign for our local club as we can use these examples in our transfer pitches to high quality players to show we can support them in there development thus helping them back in the full time game.
Thirdly, the final positive is the fact Morgan Roberts is playing league 2 football this season. Morgan has gone up two divisions in one night and playing for a historic club in Swindon Town. For any Swindon Town fans reading, you’ve got a gem in Morgan who’s a very tricky player, a lethal finisher and can jump like a salmon to beat 6ft2 cbs with ease in the air , as us Banbury fans saw at Darlington away just two weeks ago. I believe he will manage the step up comfortably due to his talent/attitude plus already experiencing football league football therefore showing signs he will be a valued member in the squad for the robins. Every Banbury fan should be absolutely delighted for him as he’s achieving every young person dream of being a professional football player. The dedication, commitment and the goals he has scored for the club - we will be forever grateful for.
As mentioned earlier, there is no transfer deadline day for us in terms of purchasing players, so this means anyone on a contract can not leave us atleast till January but we can find a replacement for Morgan whenever we see the right deal. I trust our recruitment as it’s been spot on for the last two years and that they will find another special talent because players now have confidence in Banbury that we can advance their career back in the professional game.
Congratulations and all the best to Morgan, once a Puritan always a Puritan .
Spencer Reds
🟡🔴
Comments