HAT-TRICK OF NEW SIGNINGS AT WEALDSTONE
AND WEALDSTONE AGREES NEW LEASE ON GROUND
WEALDSTONE have added three more players to their squad with their latest additions Marvel Ekpiteta, Bradley Hudson-Odoi and Rhys Tyler.
Hudson-Odoi rejoins the Stones and is a popular signing with supporters after his performances in his first spell at the club in the 2015/16 season saw him win Junior Stones Player of the Season and attract National League side Sutton United to sign him at the end of that campaign.
Since his last spell he has played at Sutton and was also loaned out to Maidstone United, Eastleigh and Hampton & Richmond Borough where he joined the latter on a permanent basis at the start of 2018.
He narrowly missed out on pro- motion to non-league football’s top tier with the Beavers after they lost their play-off final to Braintree Town on penalties.
Stones fans will hope for a repeat of his first spell here where he unlocked plenty of National League South defences from attacking midfield.
Defenders Ekpiteta and Tyler join from Bishop’s Stortford and Hungerford Town.
Ekpiteta has also played at Chelmsford City and at local clubs AFC Hayes and North Greenford United.
Tyler was a scholar at Reading and played professionally in Germany before returning to England in 2015 when Stones boss Bobby Wilkinson signed him for Hungerford and adds Wealdstone’s summer signing tally to 12.
Meanwhile, departing the club is forward Harry Goodger.
He joined the club from Whitstable Town at the end of 2017 and his work-rate, attitude and personality have made him a popular player among Stones supporters.
It comes after the club announced last week that following lengthy negotiations with KSIMC, the owners of the Grosvenor Vale site, Wealdstone have agreed an extended lease arrangement for the site.
Since Wealdstone settled at the Grosvenor Vale site in 2008, they have been seeking a renewed lease in the knowledge that the existing tenure was due to run out in late 2018.
Following negotiations with representatives of KSIMC a new lease has now been signed off.
The new lease has been agreed for an initial period of five years, and there is a mechanism built in to the lease to trigger an even longer lease.
Wealdstone will continue to have exclusive use of the stadium site (including Ruislip Social Club) throughout, and for the initial five-year period will continue to have use of the car park; KSIMC may have use of the outside grassed part of the site occasionally for sporting use.
Chairman of Wealdstone, Peter Marsden, said: “I am very pleased we have been able to successfully conclude complex negotiations with KSIMC and we are grateful to them.
“We have established a firm base for our future at Grosvenor Vale and this agreement will enable us to further develop our infrastructure and attract new investment to the club to support our footballing and community ambitions.”