Elliot Forbes relishing Hebburn Town FC move - but gives National League North warning to Hornets

It didn’t take long for Elliot Forbes to decide to take the next step in his career with Hebburn Town FC.

The versatile midfielder has spent the entirety of his season in the National League and National League North and will now form a key part of the Hornets squad preparing for a first ever season in the latter of those divisions over the coming weeks.

After breaking through at Gateshead under former Newcastle United star Steve Watson and spending time with Blyth Spartans, Forbes has spent the last two seasons with Darlington and will now remain in the second tier of the non-league game after officially joining Hebburn earlier this week. Early conversations with Hornets manager Daniel Moore set the tone and a visit to the Trustmark Group Stadium to put pen-to-paper on Tuesday only enhanced Forbes’ belief he was making the right move.

He told The Gazette: “Hebburn got in touch and from the first conversation, I knew where I wanted to go because the manager was talking about the club and the plans, and it just excited me. I met the people at the club when I signed on Tuesday and you could see how genuine they were and how excited they are for the future and where the club is going. You see the off-field plans, the progress they’ve made, the thought they put into every little decision. That’s what you want to see as a player and I can’t really fault them at all. I’m really excited by the move.”

Relentless

Forbes’ experience in the National League North will mean he has a pivotal role to play as Moore’s men look to compete with the likes of Morecambe, South Shields and Hereford during the new campaign - and that is why his new team-mates would do well to heed his advice ahead of the campaign.

“It’s a relentless division,” he explained. “Every team is fighting for something because the division is so volatile. Teams do well, then they drop off. Then teams that haven’t started well go and pick up - so there is always something in every game. It’s a crazy league, it changes so quickly from week-to-week, so we just need to have that belief, which we have, we can be successful.”

Excited

Forbes is a familiar face across the North East non-league scene and he will come up against two former clubs during the new season as the Hornets face Darlington and Spennymoor Town. A number of his former team-mates are currently playing their trade at South Shields and the thought of going head-to-head in local derbies throughout the campaign is already exciting the Hornets new boy.

He said: “It’s great for North East football and it’s such a good advert for the area that there are four in this division. You look at Hebburn and South Shields, their rise in recent years has been great to see. You see Darlington and Spennymoor there too, they are going to be games that will excite everyone. They are my favourite games and I hope there are more North East clubs that come up because we want more games like that.”

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