Port Vale have revealed one of its strikers has been transferred to a non-league club on a permanent basis, less than 12 months after signing.
Richie Bennett moves to Stockport County for an undisclosed fee after penning a contract with the Valiants in June 2019 following a successful loan spell at Morecambe from parent club Carlisle United.
He went on to play 30 times for the Vale, scoring on seven occasions.
The attacker has signed a two-year deal with his new club and is expected to feature in their National League fixture away at Maidenhead United on Saturday.
Port Vale said: “Port Vale would like to thank Richie for his contribution to the club and wish him all the best for the future.”
Midland Football League Division 1 outfit Stapenhill announced today that their top goal scorer has left the club.
Ryan King, who has netted 16 goals in 23 league games, moves on to MFL premier Division side Gresley FC as they try to stave off relegation.
The attacker previously played for The Moatmen between 2014 and 2016 before a stint in 2019, making 60 appearances and scoring five goals.
Stapenhill also stated that Niall Dawkins and Pete Martin have exited the club, moving onto Uttoxeter Town and Hilton Harriers, respectively.
The club said in a statement: “We can reveal this morning that Ryan King is leaving us for Gresley FC, having scored 16 goals in all competitions for us this season.
“Thanks for your great contribution in a Stapenhill shirt, and all the best Kingy.
“Ryan King joins Cameron Steele in making the move down the road to Gresley. While in recent weeks, Niall Dawkins has moved to Uttoxeter.
“And Pete Martin is playing for Hilton Harriers. All the best fellas!”
The games are coming thick and fast as non- league clubs cram in the remaining matches they need to play before April 25 but that can provide some entertaining clashes, including several last night.
Stoke City under-18s fell to a 6-0 defeat to Manchester City in the final of the Premier League Cup at the Academy Stadium yesterday evening. For our match summary, click here.
In the Northern Premier League Premier Division, Jake Charles saved the day for Stafford Rangers as he slotted away a 90th minute penalty to snatch a point for his side in a 2-2 draw at home to Gainsborough Trinity.
The man-in-form also grabbed the games opener after 12 minutes before a Jonathan Moran own goal and a Declan Bacon strike put the visitors ahead prior to the last-gasp spot kick.
Boro fans will hope that the point could be crucial in their club’s late surge for survival from relegation.
In the South East Division, George Cater grabbed a late brace during Chasetown’s 3-0 away win at Spalding United with James O’Neill striking first blood on 35 minutes.
This is now George Cater’s highest goals tally in a single season for Chasetown
Cater’s two goals means the 2019/20 season is his highest scoring campaign for The Scholars since joining in the 2017, with his current tally at 16.
The win means the club moves even closer to securing safety from the drop zone.
Finally, Dan Glover’s 67th minute strike, which came just 60 seconds after the opposition took the lead, earned Hednesford Town a 1-1 draw away at St Ives Town in the Southern League Central.
Looking ahead to tonight’s fixtures, Kidsgrove Athletic play their much-awaited tie against Stoke City under-23s in the Staffordshire Senior Cup semi-final.
The winners will take on Rushall Olympic in the semi-finals before Stafford Rangers await in the final of the competition itself.
Elsewhere, Uttoxeter Town host lead Midland Football League Division 1 leaders Leicester Road where a win for the home side will see them leapfrog Studley into third place.
Stoke City Ladies also play tonight, travelling to West Brom for their league encounter.
Finally, Eccleshall’s Commander Ethelston Charity Cup tie away at Gobowen Celtic, which was due to be played tonight, has been postponed.
Stoke City under-18s succumbed to a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the final of the Premier League Cup last night.
Club players past and present, including Nathan Collins and Mamady Sidibe turned out to show their support amongst a big Potters contingent of fans at the Academy Stadium in Manchester.
First team boss Michael O’Neill also watched on too.
Despite an exciting opening to the game, the first goal of the cup final didn’t come until the 40th minute when a cruel deflection from Sam Edozie deceived Stoke goalkeeper Nathan Broome.
After half-time, the Potters came close to levelling the game most notably through Mo Sankoh who was a menace to the City backline all night.
However, tiredness started to kick in at around the hour mark which was when the hosts found their second wind.
Liam Delap, son of much-loved former Stoke midfielder Rory, doubled City’s advantage on 64 minutes before James McAtee made it three just two minutes later.
It wasn’t to be the young Potters’ day
The latter player soon had his second on 69 minutes before Cole Palmer made it 5-0 on 71 minutes.
Palmer dispatched a penalty five minutes later as Stoke pressed in vain for consolation goal with the trophy firmly being tied with the colours of Manchester City.
The Potters finish runners-up after a remarkable run which included an extra-time win over Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Several fans commented on the game on social media.
One fan who attended the game wrote: “Lovely to see Ryan (Shawcross), Mama Sidibe, and Nathan Collins sat amongst the Stokies cheering the lads on.”
Another stated: “Nice to see the turnout from Stoke fans at the under-18s cup final tonight! Loads stayed to applaud the team at the end too, despite losing 6-0.”
A further social media user added: “No shame in the lads tonight, they matched City for the most part and lost all confidence after a positive start to the second half.
“They did us proud and hopefully we see one or two breaking into the first team in the next few years.”
Tamworth have bolstered their squad by grabbing the signature of an experienced midfielder.
Tom Tonks joins the Lamb Ground set-up from Stourbridge after having four separate spells at the club.
The 28-year-old played 162 gamed for the Glassboys in all, netting 12 times and attains a lethal long throw.
He had a brief three-month spell with Solihull Moors in 2017 before returning to Stourbridge.
Tonks had a lengthy period of time out after ankle injury before getting back to full fitness in December 2018 via dual registration with Midland Football League club Walsall Wood.
The midfielder has also played for the likes of Halesowen Town and Alvechurch.
With only a few games left until the conclusion of the hockey season, the level of performance of hockey we are seeing in Staffordshire is better than ever.
In the Men’s Conference North, Lichfield remain inside the top half of the table despite suffering a 5-1 loss to Deeside Ramblers.
North Stafford sit 8th in Midland Men’s Hockey League Division 1 after beating Stratford 4-2 away from home while in Division 2, Burton were on the wrong end of a nine-goal thriller, losing 5-4 to Telford & Wrekin and Stone triumphed over Rugby & East Warwickshire seconds 3-2.
In the Midlands West Premier, Cannock now only need one more point to be crowned champions following a 6-3 victory over Solihull Blossomfield.
It’s all-action as we enter the final straight of the hockey season
In Midlands West Division 1, Stafford’s 2-2 draw with Ludlow sees them three points behind league leaders Bromsgrove while Tamworth, who have won just two games all campaign, stay second-bottom after 5-0 thrashing by Shrewsbury.
In the Women’s Midlands Premier Division, Lichfield lost 2-0 at home to Boots. They now sit 3rd, on the same points as Rugby & East Warwickshire in 4th after they drew.
In Division 1, Leek just need a point to win the division after a convincing 4-0 win over Telford & Wrekin as Burton beat Ashby 3-1 to stay 5th.
Finally, a Staffordshire derby in Division 2 saw Tamworth triumph 3-1 at home to Stone.
Staffordshire rugby clubs are now fully into the season run-in with only a handful of games left for each outfit as many chase promotion while others attempt to avoid the drop.
Burton moved up to 9th in the Midlands Premier Division following a well-earned 22-24 win at Doncaster Pheonix.
A solid performance followed by an edgy last five minutes was enough to see them come away from South Yorkshire with the win.
In Midlands 1 West, Lichfield thumped bottom side Kidderminster, who have now only won once in 22 games, 67-17.
3rd-paced Lichfield are involved in a thrilling title-race and after that win are only four points off Dudley Kingswinford in second and five points from table-toppers Kenilworth who have played a game more.
It is poised to be an exciting few months with just five games of the season left to play.
It promises to be an exciting final few months of the season for Staffordshire clubs
Meanwhile, in the same division, Stoke fell to a 10-23 defeat to Droitwich so slip to 8th.
Stafford‘s Midlands 2 West title hopes are all but over following a 24-27 home defeat to league leaders Wolverhampton.
Their play-off hopes were also dented following second-placed Camp Hill’s 22-17 triumph over Longton, stretching the gap to eight points.
Leek beat Crewe & Nantwich 32-23 to open up a 17-point gap over Longton who are in fifth while Newcastle missed the opportunity to move above Burntwood after a 17-29 home defeat to Walsall.
They remain second bottom of the division.
Elsewhere, Eccleshall lost 24-21 away at Haborne in Midlands 3 West with league rivals Linley beating Edwardians 17-13.
Cannock managed to clock their second win of the league season in Midlands 4 West following a convincing 33-7 victory against Aston Old Edwardians with Rugeley suffering a heavy 55-5 loss at home to runaway league leaders Clee Hill.
Normal action resumed this weekend after a long period of bad weather which postponed many Staffordshire clubs’ fixtures in February.
Stafford Rangers halted their four league game losing streak with fantastic 2-1 win at home to Whitby Town, Alex Ray-Harvey scoring in the first half before Jake Charles’ 86 minute effort sealed the sides fourth 3 points of the season.
Boro are now seven points away from safety as they sit bottom of the Northern Premier League Premier Division with just ten games of the season left.
Kidsgrove Athletic’s play-off hopes were dented after high-flying Stamford scored with virtually the last kick off the game to lose 1-0 at home in the NPL South East Division while Leek Town reaffirmed their place at the top of the division following a 3-2 victory over Carlton Town.
Chasetown managed to edge further away from the relegation zone with their first ever win over Stocksbridge Park Steels, triumphing 3-2 thanks to a goal from George Cater and a brace from Jack Langston.
In the Southern League Central, Tamworth stayed top of the division with a 4-1 win over Stratford while Hednesford Town ended their seven game losing streak with a 1-0 away win at Redditch United, Blake Thompson striking the winner three minutes from time.
Their last victory came on January 18.
Uttoxeter Town pay tribute to late manager Dean Arnold
Meanwhile Uttoxeter Town played their first game since the passing of manager Dean Arnold, beating Coventry Copsewood 2-0.
The players wore ‘#4Deano’ T-shirts during their warm-up and held a minutes applause before kick-off in honour of the 49-year-old.
In a Midland Football League Division 1 Staffordshire derby, Brocton triumphed 4-1 over Heath Hayes while in Division 2, Bolehall Swifts won their first away game of the season as they overcame Redditch Borough by a goal to nil.
Finally, Stone Old Alleynians boosted their promotion hopes with a convincing 4-1 win over St Martins in the North West Counties League Division 1 South.
A youth football league in Staffordshire has banned players from shaking the opposition’s hands after a game due to fears over coronavirus.
Instead, the North Staffs Junior Youth League has asked teams to applaud when they line up opposite each other to usually shake each others hands post-game.
This will take place with immediate effect and applies to all NSJYL fixtures.
The league said it will “monitor the situation closely” regarding advice from the World Health Organisation and the UK Government over coronavirus.
A statement from NSJYL chairman Alastair Padley said: “NSJYL Management Committee have today agreed with immediate effect all NSYJL fixtures will replace the post match handshakes with a round of applause.
Applause will now replace handshakes post-game in the North Staffs Junior Youth League
“Please continue to line up and conduct the ‘three cheers’, however instead of shaking hands, move down the line applauding each other to show respect.
“We would request that you instruct all players, coaches and match officials on the latest advice for the upcoming fixtures until further notice.
“We are grateful for your co-operation in this matter.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely with guidance from the WHO and the UK Government.”
WE HAVE MOVED! 