Today's most viewed
|
|
|
|
FOOD ON FRIDAY |
 | |
|
FRINGE COMPETITION |
|
| |
|
DOWNLOAD OF THE WEEK |
|
| |
| | WHAT'S ON | | | | |
| | GOING GREEN | | |
| | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | | | | |
| | COMMENT AND ANALYSIS | | | | |
|
|
|
Striker is shocked to be sold
Luke Nightingale has revealed his shock after being sold against his wishes by Bognor.
The former Portsmouth striker joined Blue Square south rivals Havant and Waterlooville on a two-year deal yesterday for an undisclosed fee.
Nightingale was desperate to remain at Nyewood Lane until the summer to help the Rocks fight against relegation but the debt-ridden club decided to cash in on him.
The 27-year-old said: "It came as a bit of a shock when the club said they were selling me. My time at Bognor has been the best four years of my career and I didn't want to leave.
"I made it clear I wanted to stay and help them get out of trouble but it was out of my hands in the end.
"It is a shame but I can understand the club's reasons. They have got financial problems and as I would have been a free agent in the summer they felt they had to take the money on offer.
"I've got a lot of respect for everyone at Bognor and wish them all the best. I just hope they stay up and sort themselves out because it is a brilliant club."
Nightingale scored 71 goals in 153 games for Bognor since arriving in 2003 but has struggled with injuries in the past two seasons and has found the net just eight times in the current campaign.
Rocks boss Michael Birmingham had rejected two previous offers from big-spending Havant and was reluctant to let Nightingale go at such an important stage of the season but insists the third bid was too good to turn down.
The blow was softened by Phil Warner moving in the other direction on loan for the rest of the season - although the former Eastbourne Borough defender will not be available for today's game against Newport County.
Birmingham said: "Luke is a good friend and it was not nice telling him we were selling him but the money Havant were offering left us with no option really.
"The fact he wanted to stay until the end of the season shows how much he loved the club but he was out of contract in the summer so we had to make the decision."
Birmingham is hopeful of signing another striker before Monday's transfer deadline but has been boosted by the news former Portsmouth defender Joe Oaster is expected to stay at Nyewood Lane for the rest of the season.
7:01pm Friday 28th March 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
