TIVIDALE have announced goalkeeper Tom Turner as their first summer signing.

Turner was signed by former boss Ian Long last summer but found game time hard to come by once Charlie Price had been handed the number one jersey at the beginning of the 2014-15 season.

The 22-year-old keeper eventually moved back to former club Causeway United on loan to seek first team football but Turner is delighted that Ross Thorpe and Phil Male wanted to bring him back to The Beeches.

He said: “I’m really pleased to be here, this is a great football club.

“Obviously it was a little disappointing at the start of last season for me but I’m not somebody who likes sitting around and not playing games.

“Charlie (Price) is a very good goalkeeper and once he’d nailed down the jersey, it was always going to be tough to dislodge him thereafter.

“It speaks volumes that Charlie will be playing at an higher level next year but I want to concentrate on me having a good pre-season and make sure that I’m number one for Tividale this season.

“The team had a great season but there’s been a lot of changes here in the summer for one reason or another. It’s going to be tough for us initially but we need to have a good pre-season, win a few games and get the confidence levels up.”

Joint Manager Thorpe is delighted to welcome Turner as his and Male’s first signing since being appointed as Dale’s new management team.

He added: “I’m pleased we’ve managed to sign a keeper of Tom’s calibre, and there were a few teams he could have signed for.

“On the day we were appointed myself and Phil sat down with Leon and Steven highlighting Tom as a key target. We made contact with Tom and he made it clear from the outset that he wanted to join us for this season.

“We need to have competition for every place and Tom will definitely bring quality to the goalkeeping department moving forward.”