by DYLAN INGLIS
CRAIG GUPWELL reckons Newmains United will be raring to go next season thanks to the club’s early business.
The Victoria Park side have re-signed 15 players for the new West of Scotland League campaign.
Cammy Farquhar, Lewis Noble, Marc Howson, Dominic Cherrie, Michael Barton, James Shepard, Connor Cowan, Adem Luzha, Kris Todd, Lee Nichol, Sean Power, Andrew Frodsham, Andrew Mackenzie, Bryden Nolan and Kris Jarvie have all committed for the next 12 months.
Co-boss Gupwell is a huge fan of this proactive approach and is delighted at the number who chose to stick around.
He said: “It’s really good to get our work done early. I felt last season getting cut short came just at the wrong time for us.
“We’d put a decent squad together and I thought we’d go on and have a successful season so I’m over the moon the majority of the boys have signed on again.
“It puts us in a strong position as we’re looking to start back pre-season in the next couple of weeks. Now we won’t need to be going about chasing and trying to get a squad at the last minute.
“All the work’s done and we only need to add three or four players. It’s not a position we usually find ourselves in at this stage so we’re really satisfied.
“We were happy with our squad last year so the fact we’ve kept it together is great. The only players we’ve lost are the ones who were on loan.
“They’ve gone back to their parent clubs. Other than that we’ve managed to keep a hold of everybody.
“A couple of players said they’d had interest from other teams so we’re happy that they’re enjoying it at the club. They can see what we’re trying to do.”
Gupwell is hopeful of adding new faces soon. He added: “We’ve got three or four potential signings who we’ve been in contact with and they seem quite positive.
“We’ve had initial conversations and they seem quite interested so hopefully we can get them over the line in the next week or two.
“It makes a massive difference having that sorted early-doors. We’re ambitious and we’re looking to move the club forward on and off the park so it’s good just having all the work done.”
