CLARIDGE BEAMS AT GOODSHIP CAPTURE
STEVE Claridge has admitted that he thought there was “no chance” of Salisbury nabbing ace marksman Brandon Goodship.
The 27-year-old is back at Step 3 for the first time since 2019, when a remarkable tally of 77 goals in 97 games for Weymouth earned him a move to League Two side Southend United.
He rejoined the Terras last summer, but the Dorset club’s decision to go full-time following relegation from the National League forced Goodship to look elsewhere – and allowed Salisbury to nab an unexpected gem.
“Brandon’s training to be a plumber,” explained Claridge, whose side finished 15th in Southern League Premier South last season.
“He’s working every day, trying to get a trade under his belt so fulltime football wasn’t really feasible for him. We were just johnny on the spot, really.
“I’ll be honest – I never at any stage thought that we would get him. I was thinking ‘Well, I’ll give him a ring but there’s no chance he’ll sign because other clubs can pay a lot more than we can’. But the moment I spoke to him, I realised this was the club he wanted to join.
“What Brandon said to me is that, ultimately, he wants to be back in the EFL.
“He thinks that he can become a better player, even at this stage in his career and with me playing up front, he said ‘There’s a lot of things that I can learn from you’. Hopefully that will be the case.
“He knows we’re not a long ball side. He knows we like to play through the lines, which will suit the way he plays. There’s other players at the club that he knows and likes. And with the crowds we get, the stadium, it just ticked a lot of boxes for him.”
Goodship’s arrival has come at a cost, however, with influential winger Abdulai Bell-Baggie leaving.
“We’re paying Brandon a lot less than he could have got elsewhere,” said Claridge, who says Goodship will be used primarily as a No.10 at the Ray Mac.
“But he’s still getting well paid – don’t worry about that. The flip side to that is we had to let Bell-Baggie go. Other clubs in this division would have had them both but that’s not something we can afford unfortunately.”