Latest news with #EFLTrophy
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Carlisle United prospect makes non-league switch
Former Carlisle United prospect Cameron Salkeld has made FA Trophy finalists Spennymoor Town his latest destination. The midfielder has joined the National League North club ahead of the 2025/26 season. Advertisement It follows his departure from fellow sixth-tier club Darlington. Salkeld, who came through the youth side at Carlisle and made two first-team appearances, scoring once, had been with Darlo for the last two years. Now he makes the switch to another north east outfit. Spennymoor boss Graeme Lee has welcomed the arrival of the former Blue to the Brewery Field. 'The way Cam plays the game suits us down to the ground,' said Lee in a club statement. 'I've said it numerous times that we're at our best when we play with real intensity, and Cam does that with his work rate and the distances he covers during games. Advertisement 'He is full of running, has great ability, good experience and can play in a few different roles so he's someone we're delighted to be adding to our squad for 2025/26.' Salkeld's two senior outings for Carlisle came in the EFL Trophy under Keith Curle in the 2016/17 campaign. He made his debut at 17 as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers' Under-21s in October 2016 before, a month later, coming off the bench to score in a 4-2 win over Fleetwood Town. He also impressed for United's youth team as they reached the fourth round in the same season. He moved on from Carlisle in 2018 and has since had spells at Gateshead, Greenock Morton, Ayr United and Clyde before joining Darlington in 2023. Spennymoor finished ninth in National League North last season as well as reaching the FA Trophy final, where they lost 3-0 to Aldershot Town at Wembley.
South Wales Argus
4 days ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Newport County to face Weston-super-Mare in pre-season
The Exiles will head to the Optima Stadium on Tuesday, July 15 (kick-off 7.15pm) as new boss David Hughes continues to put his squad through their paces. Weston finished eighth in National League South last season and boast former County midfielder James Waite in their ranks. The 26-year-old from Sebastapol returned to the Seagulls last season after being released by the Rodney Parade club and featured 12 times after recovering from a serious injury suffered in August. County also loaned Josh Seberry to Weston but the Irish defender was listed by both clubs among their leavers. County won 4-0 at Weston in July, 2022 when Lewis Collins, Chanka Zimba, Harrison Bright and Matty Dolan scored goals for James Rowberry's side. It was 8-1 to the Exiles in both 2019 and 2016, when Mark Randall scored a sensational goal from his own half. County get their League Two campaign under way on the first weekend of August with the schedule announced at midday on Thursday, June 26. The EFL Trophy group stage draw follows on the same day at 2.30pm, then at 4.30pm the Exiles will learn their League Cup, round one opponents (tie in the week of August 11).
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
From Jersey to Wembley - Miley eyes Southend promotion
"Never in a million years did I think it would happen," Cav Miley tells the BBC ahead of Southend United's National League Promotion Final at Wembley. Eight years ago the 30-year-old was playing park football in his native Jersey for local club St Paul's while working as an electrician. But on Sunday he will become the first Jerseyman to walk out at Wembley since Brett Pitman helped Portsmouth beat Sunderland in the 2019 EFL Trophy final. "I never thought I'd be playing full-time football, to be honest, it doesn't really happen a lot with lads over there," said Miley. "There's a few, but I was 22 at the time, an electrician playing for a club I was at for years. I never thought at 21 or 22 I'd be over here. "You only really played football on the island," he added. "Now they go off island all the time, and, obviously, you've got the Jersey Bulls, who are playing in the UK every other week, so you're getting a lot more fans and people seeing you than what you were probably seven or eight years ago, but I never thought it would happen." Miley was one of the top players in Jersey and got his lucky break after being recommended to Eastleigh by former Aston Villa manager Brian Little, who took charge of the Jersey side for a short spell in 2016. Since then he has established himself as one of the National League's most consistent players. He spent five seasons with the Spitfires, playing 185 league and FA Cup games before moving to Essex in the summer of 2022. He has gone on to play more than 100 games for Southend, who have defied the odds to make the promotion final after finishing seventh in the National League. It saw them clinch the league's final play-off place and, despite not having home advantage, defeated fourth-placed Rochdale before overcoming third-placed Forest Green Rovers on penalties to secure their spot in the final against fifth-placed Oldham Athletic. "All my friends and family are coming over; there's loads of them - my mum, dad, brothers, sisters, loads of family and friends - so I can't wait," he says of the Jersey contingent who will be descending on Wembley on Sunday. "I'll be going home after Wembley, hopefully with a promotion under my belt, and see all the family." Should Southend go up, it would end a four-season exile from the English Football League, which at times saw the club's very existence in doubt amid financial issues. And it could see Miley finally play in the English Football League after eight seasons in the fifth tier. "It's a big occasion," says Miley. "There was a big buzz after the semi-final, so hopefully we can go there and get the job done and make it an even better occasion."
Leader Live
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Leader Live
Wrexham FC boss Phil Parkinson salutes Elliot Lee
Lee's dad, Rob, won 21 England caps in a successful career at Charlton, West Ham and Newcastle United. Lee senior was also at the Charlton game where Wrexham clinched another promotion while it was fitting that Elliot scored the opener in a 2-0 final day win at Lincoln City - a strike that earned him the top scorer of the year award. His season was halted after a worrying car crash that hospitalised him as he made his way home from the EFL Trophy win over Bolton Wanderers in February. Lee, who has now won a hat-trick of promotions during his stay at The Racecourse, admitted at feeling incredibly lucky and shared a post to Instagram, saying: 'Thankfully I had someone looking over but I'm well aware of how different the outcome could've been. 'It has been overwhelming to see how much people care and the love and support I have around me with my family and friends.' Reds manager Phil Parkinson said after the final day 2-0 victory at Lincoln: 'I'm so pleased for Elliot to get that goal. He's not been in the team recently; he's had that car crash and found it difficult. 'But he's never lost that bubble in training, he's kept that smile on his face and it's great for him to get that goal.'
Daily Mirror
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
From Man Utd failure to shot at Wembley glory for EFL's most under-rated manager
Richie Wellens is aiming to bring Leyton Orient to the Championship on Sunday having learnt up close from Sir Alex Ferguson when a young player at Manchester United Twenty five years have passed but Richie Wellens still wakes up regretful about the opportunity not seized. By his own estimation Leyton Orient's manager had all the ability to be a fixture at Manchester United during the peak of Sir Alex Ferguson 's reign. 'I was talented enough,' he says. 'But I just didn't dedicate myself.' Rather than linger on his failure to 'max out', though, Wellens has channelled his disappointment into ensuring the young players he is developing in East London do not fall into the same trap. It is certainly working. If he can seal promotion to the Championship in Sunday's play-off with Charlton, the rest of English football will have their eyes opened wide to one of the country's most impressive homegrown managers. Wellens arrived at Brisbane Road in March 2022 with Orient staring a return to non-League in the face. They are now one win away from their first season in the second tier since 1982 and a club that has long felt it does not deserve nice things has flipped the narrative. 'A bit like Tottenham,' Wellens says, with a sigh that reflects the hurt at seeing how far his boyhood club have slipped. But his experience at United, featuring in underage teams alongside Wes Brown and John O'Shea before making a solitary first-team appearance, served as the foundation to his management. Seeing the intensity of Roy Keane in training, learning from the methods and manipulations of Ferguson instilled a winning mentality. 'What I saw was a manager whose will to win filtered down no matter what it takes,' he says. 'The late goals were unbelievable. People called it Fergie Time but it was a pure belief that we were going to win. 'If you wanted to play football, he'd out-football you. If you wanted to fight and scrap against him, he'd have a fighter. The mentality they had. Football 's a bit different now, back then they could kick you, but they left an imprint on me.' Still, he is more than aware how much has changed since those infamous days when young players at the training ground would be locked into tumble dryers and skips. 'It was brutal but back then it was the norm. Would I have changed it? Not at all, not a little bit.' That his own sons - Charlie, recently released by Reading, and Alfie, at Orient - are charting their own paths informs his thinking further. 'Would I like to seem treated how I was when I was 16 or 17? No,' Wellens admits. 'But it put me in a position where I could play for 20-odd years and now I can be a manager and no matter what anybody throws at me it doesn't affect me because I'm quite strong-minded and resilient. Maybe I built that up over a period of time.' When he took his first job in management - at Oldham in 2017 - Wellens was afraid to call Ferguson up for advice. But when he guided Salford City to the EFL Trophy in 2021, a congratulatory text arrived. Is he hoping for another one on Sunday afternoon? "It'd be nice," he says. "He's the best Britain has ever produced." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
