Spalding United are back at the Sir Halley Stewart this Saturday for the first time since winning last season’s title as they prepare for the Southern League Premier Central Division with some eye catching friendlies.
Boston United are their pre-season test with the National League side the visitors in Saturday’s (July 13) 3pm kick off.
They then face League One sides Peterborough United on Tuesday (July 16) and Rotherham United the following Saturday (July 20).
Manager Elliot Sandy says attracting such opposition for pre-season friendlies is testament to the work at the club both on and off the pitch.
“It shows how far the club’s come, from all the people working behind the scenes to the lads on the pitch.
“We’re now getting teams like Peterborough United, Rotherham United and Boston United, big teams around where we are.
“We’re relishing the challenge as it will be a challenge.”
The Tulips are expecting decent crowds for the games and tickets for the games can be brought in advance online.
Links are available from www.spaldingunited.net
Ahead of the first pre-season Spalding have announced that last year’s loanee from Peterborough, Tyler Winters, has joined for the full season.
The 18-year-old scored 13 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions last season.
“For those who saw Tyler last season it was obvious we would want him to stay,” Sandy said. “He had a lot of interest and options and we had to let him decide what was best for his career.
“We are delighted he’s decided that’s us.”
On Tuesday night Spalding also announced Kieron Dawes had re-signed.
The former Birmingham City right back featured in the last six games of the campaign, scoring against Hinckley.
On the pre-season as a whole, Sandy said: “Myself and the management team have been working so hard to build on what we’ve already got.
“We’ve got an amazing squad already with some top players but there were a few key areas that we wanted to strengthen.
“We lost a couple on the way, that’s always going to happen, but we’re in a really good place right now and looking forward to getting going.
“We had a successful season last year but it starts again now.
“It’s a clean slate but we want to be successful again and the hard work is on the way.”
