Salisbury City

Widdrington returns to Salisbury
Salisbury's player-coach Tommy Widdrington has returned to work after an internal disciplinary inquiry. Widdrington was suspended by the club on full pay after City's return from a training break in Spain last month. A club statement said: "No charges have been brought against Tommy and everyone at the club looks forward to working with him towards continued success." Widdrington,36, joined Salisbury in 2005 and helped them to promotion to the Blue Square Premier last season. Widdrington has enjoyed a lengthy league career previously playing for Southampton, Grimsby, Port Vale, Hartlepool and Macclesfield

Holmes happy with Salisbury form
Salisbury boss Nick Holmes said his players were back to their best after they stretched their unbeaten run to five games with a 3-1 win over Oxford. Holmes told SSB: "In the last few games we have got back to our old ways of working for each other. "Three times in the space of a few seconds, the lads have put their bodies on the line and blocked shots. That's good to see." City are up to 10th in the Blue Square Premier. They face Torquay on Saturday.

Holmes flattered by Saints link
Salisbury City manager and former Southampton player Nick Holmes says he woud love the chance to manage the championship club. Speaking to SSB, Holmes said: "It's the only club I'd leave Salisbury for." But the 1976 FA Cup winner added: "I'm not expecting a call though, there are more experienced candidates." Saints are looking for their eighth boss in eight years with MK Dons' Paul Ince the current bookies favourite. Holmes has been Whites boss for six years and in that time has guided them from the Southern league to mid-table in the Conference Premier. "Realistically the jump from non league into the championship is probably too big. Other names in the frame have Premier league experience too," he added. "All my experience in management has been gained at semi-professional level. This year is the first year that Salisbury have gone full-time." Holmes was a one-club man during his playing days, making 535 appearances for Saints between 1974 and 1987. His peak came in the '76 cup final win over Manchester United. "I'm Southampton through and through but some people questioned my ambition back then. I'd love a call, but I'm not expecting it."

Whites 'must focus' for play-offs
Salisbury City manager Nick Holmes has told his team they need to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes to have any chance of making the play-offs. Holmes told SSB that his side were unlucky to concede a late equaliser against Crawley on Saturday and they must move onwards and upwards. "You've got to keep going and you can't make the mistakes," he said. "I know they certainly don't mean to be making the mistakes, but we've got to be better than that."

Whites will bounce back - Holmes
Salisbury City manager Nick Holmes says his side have to prove they can bounce back following Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Altrincham in the Blue Square Premier. But Holmes told SSB that under-par performances have been a rarity for the Whites this season. "Since Christmas I can't remember a performance where I've had a little dig at them," he said. "This was poor, but we've got three more games to jump back. We've done it before and we can do it again."

Turk on brink of Whites contract
Salisbury City midfielder Wayne Turk is on the verge of agreeing a new deal with the Wiltshire club. "Hopefully we can get it sorted next week. I probably will, fingers crossed, if they're going to stay part-time," Turk told SSB. "This is where I want to be, I've been here too long to go - eight or nine seasons now," added the 27-year-old. Turk shared the Salisbury supporters' player of the year award with Matt Robinson, who is already set to stay.

Salisbury look for cash injection
Salisbury City chairman Neville Beal is confident the club will not suffer financially despite the departure of major backer Peter Yeldon. Yeldon's money has played a large part in helping the Whites to gain two promotions in the last three seasons. Beal told SSB: "Peter put a great deal into the football club and we wouldn't be here without him." "I don't think we'll find anybody as generous as Peter so we're hoping to bring in more people to be directors." Salisbury are also hoping to bridge the gap by bringing more sponsorship into the club. Local businessman Andrew Rhind-Tutt has already joined the board, while former player Alan Green is also now working at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium. And after a successful first season in the Blue Square Premier, Beal told SSB exactly what he wants to do over the coming year. "Off the field we're aiming to stabilise in the Blue Square Premier Division and get the club on a sound footing at this level. "And who knows, from there we could kick on to become a league club. "We're never actually going to be a big club in the terms of Oxford United or Torquay, Oxford have played at the top level of English football. But big clubs don't always win promotion."

Beavan seals Salisbury loan move
Salisbury City have signed teenage Luton defender George Beavan on a month's loan. The 18-year-old joined in time to make his debut in Tuesday's 1-0 defeat at Woking and Salisbury boss Nick Holmes was happy with his steady start. Holmes told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "He showed he's a decent footballer, and positionally he wasn't too bad. "As you'd expect from someone coming from a pro club, he's got a decent left peg and can knock a good ball." Beavan is Salisbury's second emergency loan signing in a week, following the arrival of Gillingham full-back Sean Clohessy as the club looks to ease its current injury problems.

Clohessy extends Salisbury loan
On-loan Gillingham defender Sean Clohessy has signed on for an extra two months with Salisbury City. The Croydon-born full-back originally signed for Salisbury in mid-September, following a week's trial, and is yet to feature in a winning team. Clohessy, 21, marked his debut by scoring in the 1-1 draw against York City but that was the start of Salisbury's six-game run without a win. The Gillingham youth product's new deal now runs until mid-December. Clohessy made his league debut for the Gills in a 2-2 Autoglass Trophy draw against Wycombe Wanderers in November 2005.

Back to basics to win - Sandell
Salisbury midfielder Andy Sandell has said the team needs to get back to basics after the team's seventh consecutive loss on Saturday. Salisbury lost 1-0 to Team Bath in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round. The 25-year-old told Radio Wiltshire: "Everyone's hit rock bottom at the moment, we've got no confidence. "The players have got to pick themselves up and start fighting for themselves before we start fighting as a team." He added: "We've got to go back to basics with everyone putting in a 110% and we might get somewhere." Salisbury will play at home against Crawley Town on Saturday at 1945 BST.

Bartlett departs from Salisbury
Scott Bartlett has left Salisbury City after nearly a decade at the club. The utility player asked to leave after taking up a new job which would have made it difficult for him to give the club his commitment. Bartlett signed for the Whites in February 2000 and recently made his 400th appearance. Manager Nick Holmes paid tribute to the player: "Scott was a very loyal servant to the club for many years and we are sad to see him go."

Salisbury extend Brough loan deal
Michael Brough will see out the season at Salisbury after having his loan deal from Torquay extended. The defender first moved to City at the start of February and has played 12 games for the Blue Square Premier side. But Torquay have included a clause that gives them the right to recall Brough from the Raymond McEnhill Stadium. And in addition, 27-year-old Brough will not be eligible to play against his parent club when the two teams meet on Easter Monday.

Salisbury takeover moves closer
Administrators at Salisbury City have accepted a proposal from a consortium of businessmen to buy the club. The bid from the three-man group, headed by William Harrison-Allan, was the only one received before Wednesday's deadline. Administrator Mike Fortune told BBC Wiltshire they now have to strike a deal with HM Revenue & Customs who are owed almost £200,000. "I'm reasonably confident that we are going to be able to meet the criteria." The Blue Square Premier club were put up for sale more than five months ago for £1 by previous chairman Neville Beal and the consortium had discussed a deal with the club for more than three months. "We'd been in talks with them (the consortium) for a while," Fortune explained. "We were confident in their proposals for the club. "I'm due to meet with the consortium early next week to go over their offer in detail. The next stage is to transmit that offer to the Crown (HMRC) and get their views on it. "We spoke to them a few weeks ago because we wanted to get their general take on what we're looking to propose to them. I'm as confident as I can be. "We're hoping by the end of October at a squeeze (to complete the takeover)." Harrison-Allan is a financial advisor based in south Wiltshire and is also chief executive of the Country Gentlemen's Association. . "We're excited," he said. "We're working very hard, we've put in significant money. "It's three new directors so hopefully the Revenue will look on this kindly. "We have paid the wages over the last couple of months so they can see that the new people are sticking to what they say and I'm hopeful that they, and the other creditors, will play ball. "I'm cautiously optimistic." The consortium also includes Jeff Hooper, who has a business background in wholesale floristry, and Wilton Carpet Factory managing-director Chris Bramall. Earlier this week two new groups were looking at making an offer but nothing was received. On the pitch, Salisbury have made a good start to the season despite limited resources and suffering a 10-point deduction and Harrison-Allan has been impressed. "The average age (of the players) is pretty low and they've put up some wonderful performances. I think they are strong enough, with a few additions, to stay up this season and go onto better things next season," he said. The potential chairman also praised the club's fanbase. "The loyalty of the fans who keep coming despite not knowing what's going on, its great to say to them now that their money is being used for the right reason."

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