MFL Weekly Round Up (Division Two)

Bolehall Swifts

Bolehall have busy building their squad for the upcoming season in MFL (Division Two) and have made a string of encouraging moves to challenge this season.

There’s been a lot going on throughout the off season with a change in manager and coaching staff.

​Matt Minton has left the club to join Coton Green as their new assistant manager with Jon Huckfield coming in as Bolehall’s new manager and bringing in a new coaching staff.   

The new coaching staff consists of Ryan Stroud as assistant manager, Chris Dolman as the goalkeeping coach and Reece Beacon as the first team coach.

It’s been a busy week in terms of signings with a lot of players either staying or joining the Swifts in preparation for the 24/25 season.

A lot of players from last season have stayed on board including the likes of Greg Lewis, Ben Lloyd, Louie Barrett and Toby Hulland which provides the squad with some continuity.

There’s also been a lot of eye-catching signings with Sam Dunkley coming in from AFC Coventry Rangers which is an excellent signing. He scored seven goals from 23 appearances for the division two runners up last season and will add attacking quality to the squad.

Other new signings include midfielder Callum Thorpe who has experience at step six with the likes of Coton Green and Paget Rangers. They have also signed attacking winger Shane Smith who played at step six for Sutton United last season.

One of the signings that has gone under the radar is bringing in defender Jake Coleman and appointing him first team captain. He’s got valuable experience at this level and played for Boldmere Sports and Social Falcons over the last few seasons. He offers the squad that confidence and know how at the back and could prove to be a brilliant signing.

Overall, a really positive week for Bolehall and it will be interesting to see how they get on over the next few months.

Central Ajax

Central Ajax have managed to keep key players from last season at the club for the 24/25 season in division two. It was a really positive campaign for the Warwickshire club last time out and they managed to establish themselves at step seven following promotion from division three.

A 9th place finish alongside getting to the final of the Coventry Telegraph Challenge Cup was an excellent achievement for a newly promoted side.

A key player staying for another season is their prolific forward Shaye Eden who has been one of the best players at this level over the last few seasons. He had a brilliant record at step seven last season with 25 goals from 31 starts in all competitions.

They have also managed to keep hold of experienced players such as Tom Dyke and Jared Randall who give the squad that leadership and stability.

It’s been a positive week for Central Ajax, and it will be interesting to see if they can go one step further this season such as achieving a top half finish or winning a trophy.    

Coventrians

Coventrians have been busy building their squad for the new season in MFL (Division Two) and have managed to keep hold of their key players from last season.

They have retained nine players from last season so far which is a huge positive as it gives them that experience of playing in step seven and something to build on for this season. The club went a bit under the radar last season but achieved a top half finish which was an excellent achievement following promotion from division three in 22/23.

One of their key players from last season was Romano Graham who has committed to the new season ahead. He emerged as one of their main attacking threats last season and was one of the best strikers in division two with 16 goals from 26 starts in all competitions. 

They have also retained Jon Rodney who was their captain last season. He was an ever present for them with 32 starts in all competitions and having that stability will benefit them greatly.

There’s also been a new signing with Ollie Burns coming in who has experience playing for the likes of Walsall Phoenix and Brereton Social. 

It’s been encouraging from Coventrians over the last few weeks, and it feels like a club on the up.

Coventry Alvis

Coventry Alvis have been busy building their squad for the upcoming season in MFL (Division Two).

There’s been a lot going on at the club over the last month with Ian Sharman coming in as their new manager following the departure of Luke Hopkins.

They have resigned seven players from last season’s squad so far which is a positive and helps to build some continuity within the squad. A lot of key players from the 23/24 season have stayed on for another year such as Jag Aujla who emerged as one of their main attacking threats. He was an ever present for them with 32 starts and 15 goals scored in all competitions.

Other players resigned include the likes of captain Kyle Jaynes, Jacob Dodds and Cameron Welch who started a combined 84 games last season.

The main positive for Coventry Alvis is keeping hold of their key players from last season and having the opportunity to build around them going into this season.

They have also signed players to add to the attacking depth of the squad and bought in Liam Rock and Connor Tallet yesterday. 

Fairfield Villa

Fairfield are another club that have been busying retaining and signing new players for the upcoming season over the last few weeks. The Swans are looking to build on the positives of last season such as reaching the final of the Les James Challenge Cup and have managed to keep hold of key players.

The Swans have resigned a total of nine players so far which includes Edward Quilty, McKenzie Hine, Darren Green and club captain Liam Taylor to boost the squad.

There’s been a lot of new signings for Fairfield over the last few weeks with a total of eight players joining the Swans for the upcoming season. The most eye-catching signings include getting in Dan Elwell and Ricardo Richards who have proven goalscoring records at step seven. They scored a combined total of 36 goals last season at this level.

Goalscoring was a bit of an issue last season for Fairfield so to get these players in is a statement of intent going into this season.

The Swans have made a lot of positives moves to bounce back from last season’s 16th place finish and they should be an exciting team to watch based on the signings made.      

Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League