Littlehampton boosted by Pearce’s return

Long-serving Pagham and Sussex midfielder Pearce called Littlehampton boss Mark Bennett at the end of last season as he liked what Littlehampton have achieved with a young squad over the last couple of seasons.

Golds won County League Division 2 two years ago, before they finished third in Division 1 last season and Bennett called Pearce’s return ‘brilliant’ for the club.

He said: “Daren will join us in a player-coach role. He gave me a ring after what happened at Pagham at the end of the season to see if we had anything for him.

“He quite liked what we are doing here and Richie Hellen (assistant) and I know our limitations, so Daren will come in and do some coaching, which is brilliant for us. We’ve said all along that we’re a young side but you can’t keep saying it as an excuse. Daren will come in and be the older head that we need.”

Golds return to pre-season training on July 1 but Bennett is already pleased with how his squad is shaping up.

He said: “We can’t register the players until July 1 but, apart from three players from last season’s squad, everyone has re-signed and we’ve signed on six more as well.

“Richie and I sat down with everyone really early to talk about what happened last year and what we want to happen next year and everyone wanted to re-sign.”