Danny confirms departures
Reds suffered a double blow over the weekend with an early dismissal in the FA Cup followed by the news that two players had requested their release from the squad.
Danny Grainger confirmed on Saturday that close season recruit, Owen Bell, and long-serving Josh Calvert would be leaving the group. Both have decided to take a break from football which, after an abundance of positive news over the last two months, is a blow.
Owen, previously with Queen of the South, trained well during the first few sessions of pre-season but sustained an injury in the first friendly at Whitehaven. He then featured in the match at Barrow but that was his final stint in a Reds shirt.
OB had impressed in training and we were looking forward to seeing him in competitive action. Sadly, that never happened.
Josh’s departure is a bigger blow having been a first team regular for the past five seasons. He joined us in 2014 and made his 180th start at Trafford last week. In addition, he has made 40 further appearances as a substitute and has won the Young Player of the Year on two occasions.
He netted our first goal of pre-season and has scored fourteen goals in competitive action for Reds.
“We wish them every success for the future – be it football at another club or life in general – and thank them for their service to the club,” said the manager.
