Pele leaves Pitmen, moves south

Hednesford Town Boss Rob Smith is now in search of defensive cover after former Southampton and West Bromwich Albion defender Pedro Monteiro left The Pitmen to continue his footballing career on the South Coast.

Monteiro initially signed in pre-season to regain his fitness after a spell of injuries curtailed the classy centre halves promising career; West Brom and Southampton paid one-million pounds for his services in 2006 and 2007 respecti vely.

'Pele' became a hugely important player in The Pitmen's rise to prominence in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier Division this season.

Smith admits the loss will be felt hard by his squad but is confident that Ben Bailey can step up to the plate while he and his assistant Larry Chambers begin their search for defensive reinforcements.

'Theres no point denying it will be a massive loss but we are thankful for the time we had Pedro for and he has helped our younger players a great deal. They now need to take this on and use the experience gained to our advantage. I'm looking at options now, we obviously need a centre half to complement Cheyenne Dunkley and Ben Bailey.'

Elsewhere, new siginings Liam Blakeman and Mark Beesley will be pushing for an opportunity in a Hednesford shirt following their first full week of training after joining the Keys Park outfit last week from Bootle and Burscough respectively and Smith is confident they will complement his squad.

'We are delighted with both acquisitions. Having worked with both players before, I am sure they will prove excellent signings for the club.'

Smith will be hoping to bring in a suitable replacement for Monteiro in time for Hednesford's trip to Nantwich Town on Saturday but will have the opportunity to test out his current central defensive partnership in a local derby at Rushall Olympic in the Doodson Sport Cup on Tuesday evening, 7.45pm.

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The club also announced this week that their efforts to further engage the local community are to be stepped up with a training camp to be run at Keys Park through February Half Term week.

The coaching programme will also extend to local schools around the area as the Club look to not only engage a new generation of children in The Pitmen, but also encourage kids to spend their school holidays keeping fit and healthy.

The plan is the brainchild of long time supporter, Mick McMahon, who is very keen to use the top class facilities at the Club to promote the physical and mental wellbeing of children within schools throughout the area.

Mr McMahon is running and organising the scheme, alongside his business partner Carl Longmore, and is confident that the scheme can be of a real benefit to local children.

'I am really looking forward to getting the programme started and getting into the area to coach children about football. Not only will it serve as a chance for kids hone their skills through top class coaching but it will also interest a new age group in Hednesford Town Football Club and hopefully achieve its aim of being beneficial for the schools, the Club and local pupils.'

The training camp is due to run from Monday 13th February until Friday 17th February at Keys Park with graduates from local universities assisting with the coaching of the pupils. The sessions will run from 10am – 4 pm all week and will cost £40 per child for the five days or £10 per day.

Parents and children interested in the week are asked to contact the Club on 01543422870, contact Mick direct on 07881458827, look out for application forms being distributed to local schools in the forthcoming weeks or visit www.hednesfordtownfccp.moonfruit.com for more information.