South Shields offer new deal to Kyle Seymour as young keeper told to prepare for competition

Elliott Dickman has revealed South Shields have offered a new contract to young goalkeeper Kyle Seymour - but warned the academy product he will face competition for the number one shirt next season.

The Mariners confirmed the departure of experienced stopper Myles Boney earlier this week as his five-year stay at the 1st Cloud Arena comes to an end after he helped the club to promotion into the National League North and two FA Cup first round appearances.

Seymour was entrusted with the gloves in the final weeks of the season and produced some eye-catching moments despite his side struggling to put together a strong run of form as they ended the campaign in seventeenth place in the National League North table.

Along with fellow academy product James Sloan, the 20-year-old keeper has now been offered a new contract - but Dickman has stressed Seymour should expect to be challenged for a regular place in his starting eleven when the Mariners players return for pre-season training in July.

He told The Gazette: “We are looking at a number of things with the goalkeeping situation. We want Kyle to stay and we are offering Kyle a new contract so hopefully he takes up our offer. We are not promising anything to anyone and once we are back in pre-season it will be about the best man for the job and that’s not just for the goalkeeping situation - that’s right across the pitch and if we get the targets we want during the summer, there will be that competition across the pitch.

“We want to see who has the drive, the determination and the right mindset to really show us they want to be in the team. The season fizzled out badly for us and we can’t allow that to happen again. We need everybody all guns blazing to be as competitive as we can be in training each and every day and especially on match days.”

“He has always been a pleasure to deal with”

Reflecting on the decision to allow former Blackpool keeper Boney to depart this summer, Dickman added: “Myles has been a top goalkeeper for the club and he has broken so many records and ones that it wouldn’t shock me if they were not broken again. His attitude and work-rate are top class, his professionalism and the way he goes about his business is fantastic and he has always been pleasure to deal with.”

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