We are delighted to have appointed Mitch Hahn after an interim spell working alongside Paul Joynes last season. It's been an exciting time for Mitch, becoming a father, with Nicola, of a baby girl.

It's a big welcome back to Ashley Miller who returns as one of Mitch's assistants, hoping to have a similar level of success as he did when supporting Lewis Dark in 2022/23. Also, working with Mitch and Ash is another of our favourite players, Lewis Clark. The rest of the coaching and medical team have stayed with us too, so whilst its a fresh start, there is plenty of continuity to build on.

Hello and Goodbye

Hopefully you will have seen news of our new signings and our retained list. Let's take a look at the new players.

First up we welcome Ollie Muldoon, who has joined us after being at Aveley last season on a dual registration with Hornchurch. Ollie, a central midfielder, started out at Charlton Athletic and then represented Gillingham. Ollie gained plenty of Football League and National League experience, also playing for Maidstone, Chelmsford City and Dagenham. He joined Hornchurch in 2020/21 and alongside Jordan Clark starred in their FA Trophy win at Wembley. In all, Ollie made over 150 appearances for The Urchins with 11 goals.

We also welcome Brandon Adams who played last season in the Isthmian Premier for Potters Bar Town. A skilful centre forward, Brandon was a QPR U23 player before gaining National League South experience at Cheshunt, under our former manager, Craig Edwards. Brandon has also had spells at Ware and Royston. Brandon scored 11 times in a total of 36 appearances last season.

Thirdly, it's good to welcome a player who has been a tough opponent over the last few seasons, Connor Hogan. A midfielder formerly with Brentwood Town, Aveley and Brightlingsea Regent, Conor was appointed club captain at Heybridge Swifts at the start of last season. He also had a brief spell on the Sussex coast with Whitehawk at Step 3. Connor has always impressed when playing against us.

Finally in terms of the new lads it is a welcome to Rob Harvey, who also joins us after playing last season at Heybridge. Rob is a right sided midfielder who started out playing for Millwall's U21 side. He has played with a number of successful sides such as Braintree, Sudbury, Brightlingsea, Leiston, Brentwood and Felixstowe and can create, as well as score, spectacular goals.

We also welcome back two former players.

Firstly Freddy Moncur who made 38 appearances for us in 2021/22. The son of our former Chairman, John, Freddy is a creative midfielder who, started out at West Ham and Leyton Orient and after leaving The Blues, made 140 appearances for Ware in Southern League Central before joining Enfield.

Finally, a club legend has re-signed for The Blues. Welcome back to goalkeeper, Danny Sambridge, who made 207 appearances from his debut in 2019, to his last game at the end of the 2024/25 season, where he kept a clean sheet and scored a penalty.

In terms of retained players, we are delighted that our club skipper this season will be Jordan Clark and he is joined by Tyler Brampton, Macca Joynes, Sam Wade, Guy Norton, Gabriel Chapps, Alex Moss and Kye Jude.

We also say goodbye and thanks to those who played for us at the end of last season but have moved on. Best of luck to Aron Gordon who has joined Romford, George Marsh at Great Wakering Rovers and Sid Walker at Brentwood Town. Manny Ogunrinde's loan spell has come to an end.

There may still be some business to be done before the season starts, so keep tuned in to our socials for all the latest.

Forthcoming Games

League fixtures for the new season are due to be released in the next week.

We now know our opponents in both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy.

In the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, we travel to Hendon's Silver Jubilee Park Ground to play on the 3G against their tenants, Hilltop FC from the Combined Counties Premier Division North (Step 5). By coincidence, Hilltop are a club I know very well through other connections. They are a great bunch of lads and their manager, Abdullah, is a good friend but this day they will definitely be the opposition. The tie is due to be played the weekend of 8th/9th August. Hendon have been drawn at home as well, so please look out for confirmation of when the tie is to be played.

The winners will face an away tie in the Preliminary Qualifying Round on the weekend of 22nd/23rd August against either Northwood, also of the Combined Counties Premier Division North, or Hutton FC who are newly promoted to the Essex Senior League and play their home games at Billericay's New Lodge Ground.

In the First Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy on 29th August, we travel, in the tie of the round, to our old friends and rivals, Canvey Island.

Before that we have our pre-season programme starting this Friday 10th July with our annual game for the James Chisnell Memorial Trophy, against East Thurrock Community FC, at the Wyldecrest (former Pegasus) Ground in Corringham. Kick off is 7.30pm

Further pre-season games have been arranged as follows;

- Away at Brentwood Town on 14th July at 7.45pm
- Away at Fisher Athletic for the Brian Lomax Cup ( a new annual game organised by the FSA, between supporter owned clubs) on 18th July at 3.00pm. Please note the postcode for your sat nav is SE16 6NT.
- Home to Sporting Bengal on 22nd July at 7.45pm
- Home to Tilbury in the Stan Veness Memorial Trophy on 25th July at 3.00pm
- 28th July - TBC

Blue Army

As supporters we have a critical role to play in helping the team progress. We are supporter owned and have been so proudly for the last 10 years.

So if you have not done so yet, please renew your memberships ASAP :
https://www.graysathletic.co.uk/a/202627-grays-athletic-club-member-shareholder-application--56010.html

If you have not been a member before, or you have allowed your membership to lapse, now is the time to join us and proudly become a member. It's just £30 a year - less than £1 a week. If you want to grow the club and progress, increasing membership numbers is crucial, so spread the word!

Why not buy a ground pass for next season or join Club 250 which is a brilliant initiative offering significant savings for regular supporters across the season.
https://www.graysathletic.co.uk/a/202627-grays-athletic-club-member-ground-pass-67766.html
https://www.graysathletic.co.uk/a/grays-athletic-202627-250-club-64088.html

By becoming/staying a member and joining Club 250/buying a ground pass, you are helping the clubs finances in this increasingly competitive league. It's your club, representing you, every game.

Or why not join our Big Draw - for just £10 a month you have the chance of winning the monthly prize of £150 or just maybe the end of season Jackpot of £3,000. The more people paying in, the bigger the prizes and bigger the Jackpot.
https://www.graysathletic.co.uk/a/grays-athletic-202627-250-club-64088.html

We need every one of you to play your part. We can only be as successful as you make us. With our new manager, an exciting squad and Ship Lane around the corner - there's never been a better time to get involved.

We're also always looking for matchday volunteers to help out with the many tasks that need to be done every time we take the field. Things don't just happen and we have no sugar daddy paying for everything. This is YOUR club. Please talk to any board member about how to get involved. We;re at every game and always happy to have a chat

We look forward to seeking as many of you as possible at the pre-season friendlies as we prepare for a big season ahead.

COME ON YOU BLUES