MANAGER MARC WHITE ANNOUNCES PLAYERS LEAVING THE CLUB AT THE END OF THE 2020/21 SEASON
Sam Beard
“This is heart breaking for me, and I know it will be for our fans. Sam epitomises everything we stand for. He joined us at 18 years old from Step 5 football and has enjoyed 5 seasons with the club. He has been part of 2 promotion campaigns despite 2 of the seasons being cut short. Not only is Sam a top player with a great future, he also is a top lad who is a credit to his lovely family, who will also be sorely missed. ‘Beardy’ is an absolute warrior who belied his age with a real toughness on the pitch and a fantastic will to win. I cannot thank him enough for everything he has done for the club”.
“Sam is moving on in pursuit of full-time football and I wish him well. Suffice to say, he will always be welcome back!”
Jake Gallagher
“It feels like a common theme this year with some real ‘nice guys’ departing. The biggest compliment I can give Jake is that he has been here 2 seasons but its feels so much longer. I think it’s not unreasonable for me to say that he is the politest person I have ever met. He is totally professional at all times and gives 200% for the cause. He is also extremely popular with everyone at the club, both on and off the field. Given his coaching responsibilities still with the U18s and his brother Josh’s involvement in our Academy, along his other brother Dan’s continuation with the first team, luckily we will still get to benefit from having Jake around the club, hopefully for years to come”.
Lewis Taylor
“Another member of our record breaking Bostik League title team moves on. Although not involved last season, Lewis has given the Wanderers his all and is another extremely popular member of the club. We signed Lewis from Kingstonian having highlighted him as a key player to help us evolve and he done his job impeccably. In all honesty options were limited for Lewis last season as we were concerned about a run of injuries he went through the season before, however Lewis never gave up on wanting to break back into the side and got himself into great shape. I hope people don’t forget what great leadership he gave us at a key time. He will be sorely missed, as will his Dad, however we hope to retain him in the club in some format in the future, given he is local”.
Sam Howes
“We also say goodbye to Sam, who has been with us roughly 1 year. Sam has been professional throughout and produced some excellent performances. I have been really impressed with how much he has worked with Slav and Tony Prime for the good of the bigger picture. He always provided a relentless positive attitude with a real will to achieve. It’s important to remember that Sam is still very young, and I believe he has a big future ahead of him. He is a top guy and I have a lot of respect for him”.
On the players departing, Manager Marc White added:
“This is by far the worst part of being in charge of the Wanderers for me. We truly are a close unit and I hate seeing players move on. We have always based our success on continuity, notwithstanding carefully planning for success at the same time. No one ever leaves the Wanderers under a cloud and all players that have ever contributed to the success of this club are welcomed back forever more, and this is epitomised by the terrific relationships with previous players. It really is a case of once a Wanderer, always a Wanderer”.