After just losing out on the play-offs last season (on goal difference) Hawks Manager Lee Bradbury has acted quickly to fine-tune his squad for the new season. The defence was watertight last season and the only change has been at right-back. Jake Newton has left the club and been replaced by Josh Huggins. Josh is an exciting attacking full-back. He notched up a number of goals for his Club last season and has looked very impressive in preseason.
Last years player of the season Nigel Atangana has moved into the professional game with Portsmouth FC (undisclosed fee), where he has already impressed Pompey boss Andy Awford. Replacing the talented Frenchman will be difficult, but News in from Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre is that their fundraising evening at Hayling Island Sailing Club in April raised an amazing £17,000. The girls said “This year we need to raise £33,000 on top of the money that we receive from UK Sport and the National Lottery UK, to cover all of our basic travel and equipment costs. To those who attended the evening at Hayling, donated prizes, bought raffle tickets and bid for auction prizes to help us raise the £17,000, we cannot thank you enough.†Eilidh’s badly injured finger has healed and in April they won silver at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta in Hyeres in the south of France, and finished 9th in the European Championships in Athens, Greece in July. Sophie and Eilidh have been included in the GBR Team for the 2014 Olympic Test Event in Brazil this month and are now with the rest of the GBR Team in Rio. Before leaving for Brazil Sophie said †We’ve had the great news that we’ve been given the sail number GBR 321, so Team 3,2,1 is easy to spot on the water and the results sheets!†In September Team 3,2,1 will be at the ISAF Sailing World Championship in Santander which is their first chance to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. Bradbury has moved fast to find a different type of midfield player. Brian Dutton is a tall imposing ‘midfield general’ who is strong both in the air and on the ground. The Hawks midfield has players with pace and good technical ability and together with club favourite Perry Ryan, Dutton will add bite in the middle of the park.
Very occasionally a club like Hawks gets the opportunity to sign real proven talent and new Hawks goalkeeper Ryan Young fits into that catagory. Ryan played 367 matches for AFC Telford in the Conference North and was ever present in their Championship winning side last season. He and his family have re-located to his native Isle of Wight and Lee Bradbury pulled off a major coup in signing him. He will be assisted by teenage protégé Charlie Searle (18) who gained experience from five first team appearances last season.
The major change to the Hawks is the strike force. Two of last seasons fans favourites have been transferred to National Conference Clubs - Sahr Kabba (Lincoln City) and Christian Nanetti (Dover Athletic) while Dennis Oli has moved to Conference South new boys Hemel Hempstead.
Once more Lee Bradbury’s scouting network has worked overtime and to secure a couple of potential stars in Bradley Bubb and JJ Hooper. Bradley, is a proven talent at this level with a superb CV in fulltime football. He is a well built powerful striker, quick and very determined. JJ Hooper (20 years old) is a more speculative purchase. He spent his formative years at Premiership side Newcastle United’s Academy. He then joined Northampton Town in Division Two but only played a handful of matches. Last season he played ten games on loan in the Conference South, scoring an impressive six goals.
Finding a third striker has proved problematic. Hawks scouts scoured the Europe market for suitable players. A couple of players appeared in pre-season but fell short of the required ability. In Hawks pre-season match against a strong Crystal Palace side (0 – 0) however, trialist Shamir Mullings created a good impression and has now signed for the club. Shamir played previously for Southend FC, Thamesmead (loan) and Bromley