CAN’T BEAT ‘EM THEN JOIN ‘EM
Title rival steps in to replace Prior
LEE BRADBURY thinks Havant & Waterlooville can help Alfie Pavey reach the next level of his game – but the Hawks will be without their title-winning hero Jason Prior for their debut season in the National League.
Striker Prior is unable to commit to the extra travelling and time required in Non-League’s top tier and has instead signed for Bostik Premier side Dorking Wanderers.
The 29-year-old scored 47 goals in his two seasons at the club as Bradbury’s side bounced back from relegation to win two championships on the bounce.
Bradbury says the former Wimbledon and Dartford striker will always be held in high regard after he scored a late goal against Concord Rangers that fired them to the National League South title on the final day of last season.
“It’s frustrating, Jason’s been a good player for me,” Bradbury told The NLP. “We’ve won two promotions with him in the team. But that’s football at this level.
“We tried our best to convince him to stay. We offered him a very good deal to try and keep him at the club but it isn’t money that’s motivating him. He’s got a young family and work so that’s his decision.
Hungry
“He’ll always be a hero at Westleigh Park. Not just for scoring the goal (that sealed promotion) but the way he played and for all the goals he scored for us in the last couple of years. He’ll be a miss but when one door closes, another one opens.”
Walking through it is Alfie Pavey. The 22-year-old scored 22 goals for Dartford, who Havant edged out for first place on goal difference, last season. His exploits landed him the division’s player of the year as voted for by the other managers. Released by Millwall last summer, Pavey kickstarted his career with the Darts and Bradbury, the former Manchester City and Portsmouth striker, is delighted to tie him to a two-year deal.
“He’s 22 years old, has a lot of good attributes,” Bradbury said. “We’re looking to grow him as a player. He’s hungry to get back into the Football League and hopefully, being an ex-centre forward myself, we can help him.
“He’s quick, he’s good in the air, scores from distance, headers, tap-ins. If we can improve him I think he’ll be ready in a year or two to go back into the League.
Research
“It’s a good signing for us. We’ve got him early, he was attracting a lot of attention but we got the deal done. He wants to push on and use us as a stepping stone, which is fine.”
Bradbury, as a player, won promotion from the Championship with Portsmouth,
League One with Southend and from League Two with Bournemouth.
As a manager he’s won Steps 3 and 2, but it will be his first ever experience of NonLeague’s top tier.
The club will remain parttime – training Tuesdays and Thursdays – with the majority of last season’s squad staying on. And Bradbury has been doing his research on what will be needed to make the step up.
“I’ve met a couple of managers, got friends who manage in the division and above, so I’ve been speaking to people to paint a good picture,” Bradbury said.
“Finances is the first thing, that’s a big thing with players. We’re staying part-time and it can be difficult to attract players out of parttime and we’re a little bit out of the way geographically. So unless we’re getting local players, we’ll wait and try to deals (later).
“We’ve had two very successful years and we want to go on and try to compete this year. We’ll try to take a few by surprise and carry on with what we’ve been doing as far as approaching games, be brave on the ball and play attractive but effective
football.”