Shelley stays and Huckett joins EP

Shelley had dual-signed for Ryman League Premier Division side Lewes and had been set to try his hand at the higher level. However, he felt he was unable to commit to the travelling involved and has opted to stay at EP.

Huckett, meanwhile, returns to the club who he played for at the start of his career and East Preston manager Dominic Di Paola is delighted that the duo will both be at the club next season.

He said: “Joe staying is probably the signing of the summer and it’s brilliant for us. The move probably came ten years too late for him as he can’t commit the time to travel now.

“If you could describe the perfect player to manage, Biff (Shelley) would be that person. In my opinion, he is the best player in the Sussex County League and we never take for granted how lucky we are to have him.

“He is the heartbeat of our team and, at times, wins games for us on his own.

“I really hope we can repay his loyalty and commitment this season by having a successful one as it is the least he deserves and, given how close we came to losing him, he must be considered the signing of the summer for us.

“And Mike will give us a lot of quality. I said a couple of weeks ago that I was happy with the squad and would only bring in a special player and that’s what Mike is.

“I’m over the moon to sign him but was also a bit surprised as he has a lot of loyalty to Arundel. I tried to sign him when he left Worthing last year but he went back to Arundel.

“He’s come to us as he wants to be challenging for things and I’m pleased with the squad that we’ve got together.

“We’ve got quality players going forward, quality players at the back, quality players in the middle and a good keeper, so we’ve given ourselves a chance of being successful.”