Ex-NPL star graduates in Scotland

The 21-year-old centre-half and member of England striker Jamie Vardy's V9 Academy earned Darlington a reported £75,000 fee on Thursday when he was snapped up on a three year deal by new St Mirren boss Alan Stubbs and his top flight newcomers who also signed Truro striker Cody Cooke.

The highly-rated Heaton, who spent ten years at Preston North End, turned out for Colne, Droylsden, Tamworth and Stalybridge Celtic before switching to Bamber Bridge last summer after a proposed move to the Quakers broke down when he picked up an injury in pre-season. After moving on to Ramsbottom United in October and making three appearances for the club, his transfer to Darlington was resurrected and and he went on make six appearances in National League North.

Heaton, who was also attracting interest from Aston Villa, Fulham and Middlesbrough, was delighted to have completed his journey from the Northern Premier League to the professional game.

He told the St Mirren website: “I can’t wait to get going. The thought of playing against the big teams and striving to be the best and play first team football was something that brought me here.

“Every time I step on that park I want to win. I want to keep a clean sheet and I want our strikers to score as many goals as possible. I want to win games and I want to win trophies.”

Image courtesy of @BamberBridgeFC/Twitter

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