Double signing for Belper

Both have signed from Mickleover. Watt is a centre-back and Hedge is a goalkeeper.

35-year-old Watt has played for Belper before. He previously represented the Nailers between 2013 and 2017. He signed from Coalville Town, and then left for Lincoln United. He scored the winning goal as Belper won promotion to the NPL Premier Division in 2014.

Watt represented Rotherham United and Lincoln City in his youth days. He also played a couple of first-team games for Lincoln, before moving into non-league with Corby Town.

He hopes his experience can help the club, as they look to return to step three.

“I’ll bring experience now that I am a little older,” he said. “I like to lead, I like to try and get a few goals as well.

“Now it’s about rubbing my experience off on the younger lads, and help them get through the games and get us back to where Belper deserve to be.”

Meanwhile, Hedge had been at Mickleover since the middle of the 2021-22 season and has also played for the likes of Grimsby Town, Southport and Cambridge United. He also played in Australia.

Hedge also works for Barnsley, at their goalkeeping school.

He is hopeful the atmosphere him and Watt can bring from their time at Mickleover can help the side.

“I’ve known Watty (Watt) for a long, long time,” he said. “We’ve grown up together, played together when we were younger and then again at Mickleover.

“We’ve got a really good understanding of each others games. I think that will be really important when we’ve got lads around us, especially young lads in the team, being able to speak to them.

“Hopefully we can create a unit where we can keep clean sheets and win games. That bond between me and Watty, we’ll bring it into the dressing room. We had it at Mickleover, we created a really good atmosphere there and we aim to do the same here.”