Lancaster City retained list

Lancaster City have retained the majority of their squad following an encouraging 2019/20 campaign.

Highly-rated goalkeeper Sam Ashton has agreed a deal to stay at the Giant Axe, along with defenders Lewis Fensome, Ben Hudson, Glenn Steel and Ben Anderson.

Midfielders Sam and Charlie Bailey, Paul Dawson, Rob Wilson and Niall Cowperthwaite remain, joining David Norris and Simon Wills, who is just five games short of 300 appearances for the Dolly Blues.

Striker Brad Carsley is back too, while negotiations are ongoing with fellow forward Matt Blinkhorn.

The club’s only confirmed departure is Danny Pilkington, who has signed for Clitheroe, while Jack Armer and Ryan Rydel have returned to their parent clubs following loan deals.

Manager Mark Fell told the club’s official website: “It’s been a strange off season. A lot of the usual discussions have been replaced by uncertainty but essentially from the first chat with everyone it was clear that they all wanted to stay and be part of the new season with the club.

“With Nozza (David Norris) he’s indicated that he’ll be back but if the season is significantly delayed we’ll need to sit down and have another chat to see what his thoughts are.

“There’s a couple of areas we want to strengthen, it’s clear we need to bring in a couple of defenders and a forward, we’re well advanced on several fronts but whilst we are in a position to get some over the line, others are still ‘playing the market’ and we’ll need to see how those deals develop.

“We’ll also look to the loan market once the Football League has settled down a little bit and see what gems can be found there.”

Fell announced his first new signing last week, with experienced defender Andrew Teague returning to the club after 10 years at Chorley.

Where next?

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