By Brian Bennett

He may be joining a new club only a few miles up the road but Matty Dopson is excited about his move from Blyth Spartans to Ashington.

Dopson who has linked up with the Colliers after playing at Croft Park for the past two seasons, can operate as a defender or midfielder: “I think joining Ashington is brilliant,” he said, “Obviously they are a club who have come off the back of a great season with promotion to the Northern Premier League and who will be looking to improve even more this coming campaign. I’m looking forward to it and can’t wait to meet the lads and get pre season started.”

The 19 year old – who is based in Bedlington – is hoping to get more ‘game time’ under his belt: “I was approached by the club (Ashington) and we had a few chats with really positive thoughts,” he added, “For me being a young lad I was at a brilliant club in Blyth Spartans but I wasn’t getting enough game time so I’m hoping for more with Ashington. Knowing the likes of former Blyth players Dan Maguire and Nathan Buddle will be great to help me settle in but the majority of the lads are going to be new faces for me in what is a fresh start.”

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner said: “Matty fits into the type of player we have looked to try and recruit in the summer. He is really receptive to coaching; he always performed admirably when he played for Blyth Spartans and maybes we are a good fit for his development in terms of exposing him to more game time. He has a good pedigree in terms of being around an elite environment and has been with England schoolboys where he played in every game of the Centenary Shield. So it could be good for both parties in terms of us being able to give him more game time and try and help him develop further and for him to really go on and flourish.”