Harleston Town hopeful of signing former Lakenheath, Sheringham and Needham Market striker Jamie Smith as Danny Crow’s side target play-off place
Harleston Town are hoping to sign a former Lakenheath and Sheringham striker after boss Danny Crow has held conversations with ‘about 30 players’ this summer, but has seen many talks break down regarding wage demands.
The Magpies are yet to complete a signing following their sixth-placed finish in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division last term, but are looking to strike a deal to bring in front-man Jamie Smith – who netted eight times in 35 appearances in the Premier Division last season.
Smith, who scored 45 goals between 2021 and 2023, has been training with Harleston over pre-season and netted their only goal in Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat to Gorleston – with both parties hoping to get something agreed ahead of the Magpies’ curtain-raiser on Saturday, July 27 at Soham Town Rangers (3pm).
Another player that has been training with the side is former Magpie Connor Delaney, who departed Harleston for Norwich CBS last summer, but Crow admitted bringing in players this summer has been tough.
“I think the frustrating thing for me, and I guess it is for all the other managers, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at, it’s just wage demands,” said the Harleston manager.
“I’ve spoken to lots and lots of players, and (with) 50 per cent of the players, the first question is ‘what’s the money like?’.
“From my point of view, if that’s how certain players are, and they’re after the money, I can’t blame anyone. I don’t know what’s going on in their personal lives or if that’s what motivates them, but that’s not how this football club works.
“The chairman, he sustains a football club where people (are on) in and around the same money and no-one’s on ridiculous money.
“I respect him, I respect his decisions behind that because at the end of the day it’s his football club and he makes our football club sustainable.
“It’s happened since day one. That’s the nature of the beast and that’s just how certain people are motivated and certain people want to be. If they’d rather play a league or two leagues lower and get more money, you do that, it doesn’t bother me.
“We just all want to be together, we all want to win games, we all want to have fun – ‘fun’ being the biggest thing really, enjoying our football. That’s my main objective with these players.
“This is the most difficult part of the role. You want to bring fresh faces in, but you’ve also got to do what’s right for the players. When I say I’ve spoken to about 30 players (this summer), I’m not exaggerating.”
While incomings have been hard to come by, Harleston have only lost two players from last term – Nathan Russell and Jerry Dasaolu. And after he deemed last term a failure for missing out on the play-off places by four points, Crow is targeting a top-five finish this season.
The Magpies conclude their pre-season campaign, which has also seen them defeat Bungay 1-0 and play an in-house match, against Norwich United tomorrow at the FDC in Bowthorpe.