Four on way out at Town
FOUR players who were Town regulars last season have left the club. Former skipper Simon Thelwell was one of the first signings made by Chris Herbert in 2016 and he will be joining First Division South side Vauxhall Motors for the new season.
Simon played 153 games for the club in the last four years, scoring 29 goals.
He even has a clean sheet on his record having played several times for the club in goal, that shut out coming against Padiham in April 2017.
Last season saw Simon play only 31 times, and with more work commitments particularly in the midweek games, this meant that he missed a quarter of the season.
This, coupled with him having a young family, has led to him not being able to commit as much, and with Vauxhall closer to his home, he has opted to sign for them.
Leading scorer Craig Cairns will be returning to City of Liverpool, who he helped win the NWCFL Premer Division two seasons ago.
He made 32 appearances last season and found the net 23 times, once again being amongst the leading scorers in the league. He leaves having played 115 times for the club and with 119 goals scored, an amazing ratio.
Joining Simon at Vauxhall will be Shaun Weaver, who has played for the last two seasons at the Viridor Community Stadium.
The midfielder was remarkably regular for the club, making 83 appearances.
He weighed in with ten goals in his time at Town, seven of which came in his first season.
Shaun’s main attribute was the regularity in which he picked up Man of the Match by the opposition. This is only awarded in league games, yet Shaun picked up this award 20 times. 13 of those came last season, and when football was voided, he was leading the Premier Division and well on his way to be announced as the Premier Division Player of the Year for 2019/20.
The final player leaving is Dave Forbes who will be moving to Cymru North League side Holywell Town for next season. Forbesy missed just one game last season, that being the second game of the season, and he jointly picked up the Most Appearances award for last season.
He also found the net 14 times last season, taking his tally for the club up to 25 goals.
In total he has made 68 appearances, with 25 appearances coming in his first spell for the club in 2016/17 before he moved on to
Nantwich Town and City of Liverpool.
Forbesy has played in Wales before, representing Rhyl, Connahs Quay Nomads and Cefn Druids in the Welsh Premier League.
All four players leave with the blessing of Manager Paul McManus who said: “Firstly I would just like to say thank you to the lads for their time and commitment to the club over the years.
“Each has made an impact at the club and gave something back to the club and the fans.
“It is always hard to see players go but at the same time all have left on a good note and I wish them all well at their new clubs.
“Simon has been a fantastic skipper and player over his four years at the club and will be a valuable player for his new club Vauxhall Motors.
“Winny is also joining Simon at Vauxhall and again will be an asset for them - he brought plenty of energy and endeavour to our team so am sure he will do the same at Vauxhall.
“Craig is just a natural goal scorer and has decided to join back up with CoL to give the higher level a crack before he hangs his boots up so we all wish him well for next season.
“Forbes has always been someone to hang your hat on, always there and has played an important role for the club over his two stints, and we wish him well at his new club Holywell.
“It has been fantastic to manage and play with each of them”.
RUNCORN Linnets’ new manager Calum McIntyre has started the process of assembling his squad for the season ahead.
Calum’s first piece of transfer business was to agree terms with three of last season’s players with striker Ben Wharton joining defenders Ally Brown and Scott Lycett in committing to stay at The Millbank.
Calum said: “I’m delighted to get Ben committed for next season.
“He is a proven goalscorer at this level and will be a key part of what we want to do.
“He was keen to stay with the club so I’m really pleased.
“Ally’s another with real experience of this level and of being at the right end of the league.
“His energy levels and desire to get forward will make him a crucial signing for us.
“Scott’s another player we have been able to retain from the existing group, which is really pleasing.
“From our first conversation, I knew Scott was the right character for us and once again he’s a player who knows the level inside out.”
Elsewhere, winger Ryan Gibson has opted to leave the club.