By Peegs
July 4 2002

The close season is always a busy time for clubs. We have got a new manager but have there been any new players arriving. There has been plenty of internal activity with players contracts expiring. See who has signed on and signed out of Cheltenham Town After the Euphoria of Monday May 6th in Cardiff when we beat Rushden & Diamonds (Rushed in and Buyed them, as they are known in these parts) in the 3rd Division play off final alot of supporters thought it would be a busy Summer in the transfer market. As for now no new faces have arrived but many have signed back on or been released by the club.

One player to have put pen to paper on a new deal is our central defender and influential captain Chris Banks. He is a veteran of 397 games and has recently taken an F.A diploma in physiopherapy and hopes to stay on at the club in that role when his playing days are over. Many supporters saw Banks as the key player we needed to keep as he has such a good understanding with our Northern Ireland international Mike Duff at the heart of our defence.

Another player to sign on for another year was our right winger Lee Williams. Lee was a mid season signing from Mansfield Town. Consistently puts in a quality and accurate cross from the right wing and will be remembered for his equalising goal from 30 yards against Hartlepool in the Semi Final of the Play-offs. The ex Aston Villa man will be key to are success in the 2nd Division.

When Lee "Archie" Howells broke his leg in the 2-1 away win over Bristol Rovers late in last years campaign John Finnigan was signed as cover for him. The central midfielder however made such an impact including a goal on his debut at home to York and the 3rd goal at the Millenium Stadium to seal victory versus Rushden. John has put pen to paper on a 2 year deal and is reported to be on the highest money the club as ever payed out on wages.

Other players to re-sign for Cheltenham before the end of the campaign were Richard Walker a strong heading and tackling centre back, "Titch" as he is known has signed on for another year. Russell Milton has also agreed to stay at Whaddon Road for another season. A somewhat injury prone left sided midfielder is our set piece expert and his set plays will be important for are chances in the forth coming campaign. Neil Howarth is another player to sign a 1 year contract with the club. Neil is a versatile player who can play any position along the back four. A £7,500 signing from Macclesfield in our Conference promotion campaign Neil is a useful squad member that every club needs.

Now the tail of greasy scouser Hugh McAuley. He was released by the club a week after winning promotion in Cardiff. He has had trials at numerous other clubs - including Southend and Torquay - but now finds himself back at Whaddon Road. Alot of Cheltenham fans are not happy with the re-signing of McAuley, they don't rate him but he has experience of playing in the same youth team as Robbie Fowler when they were at Liverpool together.

Of course with the current financial position football finds itself in - not mentioning any name ITV Digital! - we had to trim are wage bill. This included the release of Chetenham legend Neil Grayson. Neil who made 152(+46sub) apperances for the club scored 60 goals. He was top scorer in our Conference championship campaign and scored our first goal in the league at Mansfield. He was our top scorer in our first 2 season in division 3. Even though he was only a bit part player last year Neil's release came as a shock to many fans -including myself - and he will be sorely missed. Forest Green look most likely to capture his signiture in a player coach role.

We have also released 2 forwards Jason White and Gareth Hopkins. Without being to harsh to these 2 players alot of fans were very happy when we released these 2 as quite frankly they couldn't hit a barn door. We wish them luck in there search for new clubs but I personally think they could be looking at the conference to ply there trade.

One of the player released by cheltenham has found himself a new league club. Micheal Jackson a central midfielder was snapped up by Swansea City. A player with a lot of potential has been on the fringes of the 1st team for 3 years but has not been able to make the jump up from our reserve team to the first eleven. The signing of John Finnigan signalled the end of his Cheltenham career.

The getting rid of players didnt stop there. 3 players have been placed on the transfer list One of these players has been signed up by another club. This was our vastly experienced goalkeeper Carl Mugglton. Our new rivals in division 2 Chesterfield have signed him up. The view with the fans is that Muggleton is a better keeper than our number 2 Shane Higgs. Muggleton who has a £150,000 transfer fee on his C.V and who has exerience with Celtic was seen by the fans as a man who could lend his experience of higherleague football to the players who haven't experienced it. ITV Digital are to blame for us selling Muggleton, he was undoubtedly on better money than Higgs.

As the squad is top heavy with defenders(9 out of 21 players!) it came as no surprise to Cheltenham fans when we transfer listed 2 defenders. They are Keith Hill and Steve Jones. Keith is a powerful centre back who we signed from Rochdale this time last year. He failed to make an impression at Whaddon Road and spent 3 months on loan at Wrexham last year and when he came back to us played regularly in the reserves. Steve Jones is in his 2nd spell at Whaddon Road. A talented right back he is just unlucky that he is 3rd in the pecking order of right backs at the club behind Antony Griffin and Neil Howarth. Most Cheltenham fans including myself dont see any clubs coming in for them so it looks like another year in the reserve team for them.

There is still one player we are awaiting to re-sign. Our young centre forward Martin Devaney. A pacey forward with an eye for a goal is stalling on signing a new deal. Found himself mainly on the bench last term reports suggest Bristol Rovers and Oxford are after his signiture. If they can offer him 1st team football my money is on he will go. An announcement is expected soon to whether he will sign. Check back on my site to see if he signs!

With 37 days left to are opening game against big spending Wigan there is still plenty of time for new faces to join the adventure at Whaddon Road. Reports in the local press suggest Graham Alner has been in discussions with a forward (good job at time of writing we only have 2!). As they say we will have to watch this space.