WITHAM Town boss Garry Kimble says they are heading into the new season with high hopes of being competitive.

Town’s preparations for the new Pitching In Isthmian League division north campaign are well underway, having taken on Stansted FC last weekend.

In a statement released on social media, Kimble said: “After having some time over the summer to reflect on last season, I think we can say that on the whole we had a ‘good’ year.

“If you think back to where we started in July last year, we started pre season training with a brand new management team and only 3/4 retained players from the previous season.

 

“We had to undergo a complete rebuild of the squad, which meant us needing to use a lot of trialists as well as dig into the black book of contacts to attract new players in to the club.

“We had a tough start to the season but we managed to have a good run in the FA Cup and throughout the season we took points off of all of the clubs in the top 6 of the table and we created a squad that could compete in the league.

“I’ve said previously, if we started with the squad we finished the season with, then we would have been competing for a playoff spot that is for sure.

 

“Looking ahead to next season...we’ve managed to secure/retain 75 per cent of the squad from last year which is fantastic for us, and we’ve also added a few new faces to the squad for this season, to give us a freshness and also challenge for the existing lads.

“We go in to the 24/25 season with high hopes of being competitive and really putting a challenge together to see us operate in and around the playoffs.

“We’re very excited about the squad we’ve assembled and can’t wait to get underway in our first pre season friendly in July.

“Up the Town.”

Witham have been drawn at home to Hertford Town in the FA Cup extra preliminary round.

The tie will be played on Saturday, August 3.

Witham have been drawn to play Brentwood Town away in the FA Trophy first qualifying round.

The tie will be played on Saturday, September 7.

Witham have announced that Warren Fenton has linked up with their coaching team, while Kyle Rudkin has joined as first-team physio.