Greens’ boss Shane Coldron admitted to being ‘delighted’ with his summer captures as Whitton continue to put their faith in youth – almost 80% of their first-team squad is now 21 and under.
Regan Pelling, 19, Nick Ingram, 20, Stefano Mallardo, 20 and Adam Dunnage 18, are the four new players who have agreed to join Whitton, who won promotion to the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division last season.
It is a big boost to Coldron and Whitton.
“I’m really delighted to have sourced these summer targets and retain the exciting young players already at the club,” he told his club`s website. “My philosophy of attracting, coaching and developing some of the best local young talents is what excites me about the current Whitton squad.
“With almost 80% of the squad under 21, my aim is to establish Whitton as a force in this league in the coming years. I also want to assist these young players to return back to Step 3 and 4 as better players in the coming years.
“While the Board have stated the target for us is to stay up and ensure sustainability is achieved for the long term, I believe the new additions in conjunction with the talented retained squad, means we can achieve more than that.
“With some of the older squad players commitments changing, we needed to seek new additions.
“However, with the tougher Step 5 challenge, the quality had to be of a certain standard as well but keep within the development philosophy and budget of our club.”
Pelling, Ingram, Mallardo and Dunnage have plenty of experience at higher levels despite their young years, while Condron added that, “the experienced players who were vital in achieving promotion last season have also been retained and play a key role in the development philosophy of the younger players in the squad”.
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