A RECORD FEE, AND EIGHT GOALS TO SHOW FOR IT

The deal took eleven weeks and a club-record outlay. Eight league goals later, Kieran Garside is making the fee look like patience, not a gamble.

Eleven weeks of phone calls, two collapsed agreements and one very late night. The signature finally landed on a contract that runs to 2029 – and a hat-trick at Lowbridge Athletic told the rest of the division what Kingsmere had paid for.

“We were patient, and the right window opened,” the director of football said. “This wasn’t a gamble. This was the plan, on schedule.”