Boldon CA joint-manager not surprised by surprise signing of former Northern League champion
Dunston UTS stalwart Liam Thear has joined Northern League Division Two club Boldon CA.
Boldon CA joint-manager Chris Spence was not surprised by the signing of former Northern League winner Liam Thear from Northern Premier League East Division club Dunston UTS.
The versatile has spent the last 11 years at the UTS Stadium and racked up a total of 74 goals in 265 appearances as he helped Dunston rise into the fourth tier of non-league football during that time. Thear was part of the Dunston side that were crowned as Northern League champions in 2019 and featured in their FA Cup fourth qualifying round defeat against Gateshead as thoughts of a maiden first round appearance were ended by the National League club in front of a capacity home crowd.
Thear spent time on loan at Birtley Town last season but will start the upcoming campaign with Boldon after they were able to move quickly to secure his signature and land something of a coup as they look to move on from a disappointing season last time out.
Speaking after completing the deal, joint-manager Spence told The Gazette: “When Keaton came in as joint manager, Liam was a player we had already spoken about. We knew there was a chance he could become available at the end of the season, so as soon as the season finished we acted quickly and made our move. It wasn’t a surprise to get it done because we spoke to Scrappy and explained the plans the club has moving forward, along with what we want to achieve. He bought into the vision straight away and was excited by the challenge ahead.”
Another eye-catching new arrival was secured on Sunday when Boldon completed the addition of former Whitley Bay and Seaham Red Star forward Mark Robinson. Spence has revealed he is looking for ‘one or two more players’ as he aims for a major improvement on last season’s bottom four finish in the Northern League’s second tier.
He said: “We’re still working hard to improve the squad. We’ve already brought a few new faces in and we’re looking to add one or two more players, and then we feel we’ll be in a really strong position.”