New coach for Spartans keepers

To ensure keepers Fabian Otte and Adam McHugh are in the best possible form, manager Tom Wade has brought in former Hull City, Sunderland and Huddersfield stopper Tony Norman as their new goalkeeping coach.

Unveiled at Croft Park on Monday, the 57-year-old played for Hull City between 1983 and 1988 and set a club record of 226 consecutive appearances out of a total of 372. After transferring to the Black Cats and turning out for them at Wembley in the 1992 FA Cup Final when they lost 2-0 to Liverpool, the Welsh international went on to make a total of 198 appearances before moving on to Huddersfield in 1995.

Pictured with his new charges at Croft Park, Norman already knows Blyth well after playing for Hull against the Premier Division's pace-setters in the second round of the FA Cup in 1980.

He said: “I’m delighted to be at Blyth, to be honest. It’s a smashing move for me and I was more than happy to join after manager Tom Wade asked me.

“Training with the lads is going really well. Both Fabian and Adam are at a good age to develop well. This is the time they can learn and improve. They are both good keepers but everyone can improve by slight tweaks here and there.

"But they’re both hungry to get better, they listen and are not afraid of hard work. I told them from the start it would be hard work but enjoyable! When I trained I used to feel invigorated afterwards and I hope the lads will too.”

Follow us: @evostikleague on Twitter | Facebook www.facebook.com/evostikleague | The NPL Facebook Group www.facebook.com/groups/TheNPL/