Henry Landers | Stratford Town

It has been a busy fortnight for Stratford Town, however the club from Warwickshire did not bring in their first new signing until the start of June, but have since made 4, as Paul Davis looks to build his own squad in his first full season as the main boss.

📷 Chris Simpson

The Bards have finished 6th and 9th in the last 2 Southern Premier Division Central seasons, and are hoping to make the improvement needed to finish in the top 5. The club have signed four players in their search for step 2 football.

Harry Reilly who joined from Banbury United, Stan Anaebonam from Taunton Town, Brad Burton from Redditch United, Alex Collard from St Ives Town, but perhaps the most impressive of them all, Henry Landers from Leamington.

In the last 2 campaign's, the centre forward scored nine goals in the National League North for the Brakes, and the same amount at step 3 the season prior. I spoke with Stratford's new signing to get his thoughts on his big move to Warwickshire.

"It has been a pleasure to play for Leamington over the last 2 seasons. The trust that the gaffer (Paul Holleran) has put in me to be able to play the amount of games I did over the last 2 years means a lot to me. I hope that with the 21 goals I scored, and effort put into the club, the belief they put in me has been paid back.

"Every single person at Leamington, whether it was my teammates, manager, staff or the fans played a massive part in my enjoyable spell at the club. It is like one big family, and everyone plays their own part in that.

"The gaffer, Paul, for me is one of the best people in non-league football, and I am sure a lot of people agree. He was more than a manager for me, he was so influential to the success I and everyone had in the last 2 years at Leamington, and his 15 year and counting tenure there shows you how committed he is."

"I am very happy to be back playing step 3 football for the next season. On a personal note, is it more suitable for me in terms of travel, particularly with how much time I spent on that last year at step 2 in National League North.

"Stratford have always been a club in and around the title push, and I am hoping this year is the year it will happen. I am very excited to get started and see what the upcoming season holds, having been promoted from this league twice myself.

"I know the manager Paul (Davis), and some of his staff at Stratford. When I saw the initial interest, and had a chat with the chairman Jed (McCrory) about the ambitions for the side, it did not take me long to make my decision. I am very excited to be a part of a club that can go very far.

"My ambition is to win. I want promotion, but from a personal level, I want to score goals and get assists. It is an aim I target every season. Most importantly, I want to contribute to the team with my performances, and hope to have an injury free season with a lot of success.

"I have spent a lot of time in the off season so far with my family, and enjoying a well deserved break in the sun to try and rewind. Now that pre-season is approaching, I am trying to get myself in the best place physically to be in good shape for the start of the league season.

Lastly, my message to the Stratford fans is that I can not wait to get started. I am extremely excited to meet you all in our first pre-season fixture at the start of next month, and hope to enjoy what should be a very intriguing and hopefully successful 12 months."