PATRICK McGuire has spoke of his delight with the capture of two former Bury stars, with the new campaign just around the corner.

Thackley confirmed the double signing of Tom Greaves and Aidan Chippendale, who both sign following their departures from Bury AFC. Both have committed to the Dennyboys for the upcoming 2022/2023 season.

In securing Greaves and Chippendale, Manager Patrick McGuire has secured two of his top targets for this summer.

Greaves is one of the most prolific strikers in non-league football, having last season taken his career tally to over 300 goals. In addition to his goals, Greaves brings with him vast experience from his time at clubs at a higher level which will be of benefit to a number of the talented young Thackley AFC players already in the squad. He has previously played for several higher-level clubs, including Bradford (Park Avenue), Ossett Town and Hyde United (amongst others). Greaves also played for FC United of Manchester where he was manager as well.

The goalscoring hotshot will also be taking up the vacant role of Assistant Manager for Thackley AFC, working alongside McGuire and the rest of his First Team Coaching Staff.

Speaking to the club, manager McGuire had the following to say regarding the signing of Greaves: "It's no secret that I’ve wanted Tom here for a long time and I’m delighted we have finally landed him. For Thackley to sign arguably the greatest goal scorer in non-league is a real statement of intent and where we identified the need to bring in a striker with real goal scoring instincts, we couldn’t have made a better signing than Tom.

"Not only will Tom be a vital player for us in terms of what he brings on the pitch, he will be an invaluable asset for our young players to learn from and he will bring the best out of those around him.

"Tom will also take on the role of Assistant Manager which I’m thrilled about as I hadn’t replaced Joe Brown who stood down due to work commitments at the beginning of last year. I’m very particular about who comes on the staff, and it often gets overlooked that Tom was Manager of FC United of Manchester, so to have a Coach of that level of quality and experience makes this a fantastic signing on all levels."

In Chippendale, the Dennyboys have secured another fantastic attacking midfield player to the Thackley AFC squad, who can play out wide and centrally.

Discussing the transfer to the club's website, McGuire said: "The opportunity to sign Aidan was a chance we couldn’t let slip through our fingers and I’m over the moon he has committed to us.

"To sign a player with the quality Chippy possesses is a watershed moment in the project here and is a testament to the hard work that has gone in on and off the pitch at Thackley. The way we play will suit Aidan down to the ground and his ability to make things happen will excite the spectators and gives us the added attacking threat we lacked at points during last season."

As mentioned previously, Thackley & Bradford (Park Avenue) announced that a partnership agreement has been signed between the two clubs, which will see opportunities for local young talent to access academic study with a potential route into semi professional and professional football.

Discussing this to the club's website: “We are excited to announce this partnership with Bradford (Park Avenue), and believe this will not benefit just our club, but youngsters in the Bradford area. Manager Patrick McGuire has been a big driver in this opportunity for which we thank him for, since he took his full time role at Bradford (Park Avenue). We have already seen benefits of the relationship on an informal basis, with striker Seb Boulton appearing for the Thackley AFC Reserves, scoring goals and being exposed to open age football."   QUOTES BY: BY BEN OLIVER