Barraclough, who was again the Gladiators’ leading scorer with 19 goals last season, returned from holiday at the weekend and put pen to paper on Sunday.

There had been fears that he would follow some of the successful 2006/07 squad and seek pastures new, and a number of other clubs are believed to have shown interest.

But he told Matlock joint-manager Gareth Williams that he had been impressed by the club’s triple capture of Hannah, who joined from Belper Town, Lincoln United defender Ashley Foyle and utility man Lee Featherstone.

“It means a lot to the club,” Williams said of Barraclough’s commitment.

“He’s been consistently scoring goals for the last four years.

“I think he probably could go up a level and although there have been a lot of clubs watching him he sees where this club’s going this season and thinks he wants a piece of that.”

“He’s excited,” added Williams.

“He came back off holiday and was impressed with who we had brought in, where we are going and our next targets.”

Wary of alerting other clubs to their interest Matlock remain typically tight-lipped over those “targets.”

One whisper that Williams was quick to deny this week was the rumoured arrival of former Ilkeston captain Gareth Holmes, who was released by the Robins at the end of last season.

However, another signature that Williams was pleased to secure this week was that of defender Cameron Fearon, who joined Matlock from Chesterfield in January.

Although released by the Spireites, Fearon still has ambitions to play league football, but has been persuaded his immediate future lies at the Geoquip Stadium.

“He’s a young player who needs a bit of confidence building after being released from a league club,” said Williams. (Continued on page 36)



“We’ve seen some really, really good things from him, but he’s not been consistent enough and maybe this is where he needs a good pre-season under his belt and to work hard.

“He’s a smashing lad and hopefully we can get him back into the league.”

Williams was also delighted at the number and quality of players who took part in Monday night’s reserve team trial at Cavendish Playing Fields.

The team will play under ex-Gladiators Glenn Kirkwood and Craig Hopkins in the Midlands Regional Alliance Premier Division next season.

“There was a brilliant turnout,” said Williams.

“Everyone who took part had something to give.

“It’ll be very difficult in choosing a squad of players because there was quite good quality and we were very pleased with their attitude as well.