Eastleigh: We would love to see Aaron next week ...

-
By Wendy Gee -

EASTLEIGH would love to see Aaron Martin back on his old stomping ground next Monday (August 2) when Saints wrap up their pre-season preparations at the Silverlake Stadium (7.45pm).

After weeks of speculation about his impending move to St. Marys, the 20-year-old centre-back ended up leaving the Spitfires in such a rush last November that there was no chance for Eastleigh fans to bid him a proper farewell.

Martin, an outstanding graduate of Eastleigh's youth system and a former student at nearby Itchen College, is the classic 'local boy made good.'

Having signed for Saints on an initial 18-month contract, the former England Colleges defender was made captain of the reserve side before being loaned out to gain experience in the Football Conference with Salisbury City.

He made his full first-team debut for Saints at Gillingham on May 1, earning rave reviews from manager Alan Pardew.

He then gave another sure-footed performance against Southend on the last day of the season in front of a 25,000 St Mary's crowd.

As part of the deal that took Martin to St Mary's, Saints agreed to send a first team squad to Blue Square Bet South outfit Eastleigh for the next three pre-seasons, starting on Monday night.

"We would love to see Aaron back here playing again," said Eastleigh's director of football Dave Malone.

"He's done remarkably well since joining Saints and all the vibes are that he is very well thought of.

"He's got his head down and worked hard and that's the biggest asset of the boy.

"I've never met a more determined lad.

"He's got the best attitude of a young player I've ever known and that, allied to his ability, will hopefully take him a long way.

"He hasn't made it yet, but I'm pleased Alan Pardew seems to have taken a shine to him and that when his opportunity comes along, he will make the most of it."

"Everyone at Eastleigh thought the world of Aaron and we'd love to see him here on Monday to say a proper thank you and goodbye."

The Eastleigh game offers Pardew the chance to make some last-minute tweaks to his team ahead of the big npower League One kick-off at home to Plymouth on Saturday week (August 7, 12.15pm).

A big crowd is expected at the Silverlake and tickets are selling fast.

Admission is £10 for adults, £6 for 12 to 16-year-olds/seniors and £4 for under-12's.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deal sealed with Lawshield

-
Image
Eastleigh Football Club are delighted to unveil Lawshield as sponsors for the South Stand (opposite the clubhouse end) at the Silverlake Stadium for the 2012-2013 season. Lawshield have signed a deal with the club which sees the stand rebranded the Lawshield Stand and we hope the fans will embrace the newly named ‘Lawshield End'. Lawshield Managing Director Ken Specter commented:"It gives us great pleasure to continue our association with Eastleigh Football Club - we wish the whole team, both on the pitch and behind the scenes at the club all the best for the forthcoming season". Lawshield specialise in providing quality insurance products which are underwritten by leading insurers. Their products and services offer comprehensive cover and a seamless integrated service solution to Insurers, Brokers, Fleet Managers and Affinities. They provide a one stop shop offering outsourced claims assistance solutions for household insurance and personal/commercial motor insura
Read more

Richard Hill

-
Image
Eastleigh Football Club are delighted to announce Richard Hill as their new first team manager, with immediate effect. Richard will be introduced to the players and staff tomorrow evening and will take charge of his first match on Saturday against Maidenhead. Richard is vastly experienced having managed Stevenage Borough and assisted John Gregory at both Wycombe and QPR, Brian Little at Aston Villa and also fulfilled the same roles at Gillingham, Tranmere Rovers and Northampton Town. It is a new era for the football club and we feel that in appointing Richard we have made the right choice. We are confident that he has all the attributes necessary to ensure the football club continues to develop and move forward in the correct manner. Stewart Donald added ‘I am delighted that we have been able to appoint Richard so quickly. He is exactly the calibre of Manager I wanted. Like all managers that inherit a team, there will be a transitional period while he familiarises himself with
Read more

Eastleigh 3-1 Newport County

-
Image
EASTLEIGH V NEWPORT COUNTY MONDAY 12th MARCH 2007 Conference South So far so good, as Eastleigh pressed on with their busy schedule with a second comprehensive win in as many days. Yet another classy performance from the Spitfires saw them come out firing on all cylinders finding themselves two goals to the good in the blink of an eye, and just like they did in the Farnborough match at the weekend, they comfortably saw the game out. The only change from the winning side, saw Liam Green replace the injured David Hughes in the centre of midfield. Newport were panicking from the start with the excellent Steve Watts and Jamie Brown letting their presence be felt up the front, giving their opponents no time on the ball. The constant chasing down and pressure from the two Eastleigh forwards almost led to catastrophe in the third minute for Newport, as Stewart Edwards played across his own goal with his keeper missing the ball before it was eventually hacked away. Scorer of Eastl
Read more