Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Garforth Town manager Paul Marshall is thrilled to be reunited with one of his best captains from his days managing Tadcaster Albion and Pickering Town.
Marshall has coaxed midfielder Nick Thompson out of his long sabbatical and persuaded him to sign for Garforth.
Thompson has been out of the game since leaving Pickering in 2019.
“Nick Thompson is the best signing I’ll make this year,” Marshall told Non League Yorkshire.
“He was my captain at Tadcaster and Pickering.
“He has been injured since the Pickering days and he’s had a baby girl so he’s had other things on his mind.
“He had a hernia operation but he looks fine.
“He was one of my best players for ten years.”
Thompson featured in Garforth’s 2-2 draw with Horbury Town in the Yorkshire Trophy on Tuesday night.
He was joined by a host of impressive trialists.
Marshall had continued his policy of giving hidden gems a chance and he says the club have been inundated with players contacting them.
“We have had some good young lads come down and we’ve had four from Leeds Beckett Uni – Steve Waide recommended them to me,” he said.
“If people want to come down training I’ll have a look at them.
“I tell them to ring me and I’ll invite them to training and if they do well I’ll give them a game.
“I’ve turned a lot away already.
“Garforth always get lots of people ringing and emailing their CVs. They get about 40 people emailing.
“I always tell (owners) Brian (Close) and Craig (Bannister) to give them my telephone number and if they have the decency to ring me, I’ll speak to them and I’ll invite them down.”
Kevin Terhaerdt (moved back home to the US), Joe Colley and Karl Fitzgerald (to Campion) are the notable departures from Garforth.
The majority of lads who secured a third-placed finish have stayed and Marshall has dismissed claims of a forced overhaul of the squad.
“I didn’t want to lose Joe Colley and I didn’t want to lose Karl,” he said.
“But we can’t compete with what they were offered, end of story.
“I wouldn’t call it a rebuild.
“We’re alright.”