Truro City defender Will Dean has signed a new contract with the newly-promoted National League side.

The 24-year-old, who moved to the Tinners in 2021 after being released by Exeter City, has agreed a full-time deal with the club.

He has been part of two promotion-winning sides, having also helping the club go up via the Southern Premier South play-offs in 2023.

Dean was a key member of the side that won the National League South title last season, making 41 appearances and scoring four goals, including the opener in a vital 2-1 win over Worthing.

"I love my football here and I play my best football here," Dean told the club website.

"You couldn't write it because at the start of the season everyone had us down and out. But somehow, we produced magical things on the pitch because we are a tight group that works hard for each other.

"At the end of the day, that's what has given us success and we pride ourselves on hard work.

"We run hard, compete and do the basics of football quite well. If you have those fundamentals, along with quality throughout the ranks, it is a good match."

Truro City full-back Tyler Love-Holmes has signed a new full-time contract at the National League side.

The 20-year-old made 20 appearances for the Tinners last season having joined in July from Saltash United after a successful trial.

The former Plymouth Argyle academy player is the second Truro player to sign new terms this week after Will Dean agreed a new contract on Tuesday.

“My dream has always been to test myself as much as possible and this has been my dream for ages, to go full-time,” Love-Holmes told the club website.

“Next season you will see a different side to me because I will always want to be out on the pitch.

"Going full-time will be a lot easier for some of the players because there were times last season when we would get back late from games, then have to go to work and then training.

"That will tire anyone out before you think about away trips on Tuesday nights. It doesn't help the cause, but now we will be able to get our bearings in a professional environment."

Now that the 2024/25 Championship season has ended and we are close to the end of our financial year, I wanted to give the fans an overview of the likely financial outcome for the season, my thoughts on the football season just finished and some early considerations for the summer and the season ahead:

Turnover is anticipated to hit a new record high of over £20m, up from £16.9m last year.
The club has seen continued improvements in season card income, matchday income (including all commercial and shop revenues) and media income.
As previously highlighted, because we recognise some of our commercial income as “net” not “gross” income, our turnover figures would be a minimum £3m higher than shown. Therefore, on a like for like basis with other Championship football clubs our turnover would be over £23m.
Gross sales of merchandise are expected to hit a new record high with Castore.
Gross catering/hospitality and advertising sales have hit a new record high. An increase of 30% over last season.
Season card revenue hit a new record high, with sales for 2024/25 totalling 11,811.
Our average home league game attendance was slightly behind the previous season’s (2023/24) record high of 16,504 (this excludes all cup games).
We achieved our highest ever (since the modernisation of Deepdale) home attendance of 22,212 in the FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa.
The club’s investment into the squad increased significantly, as we signed seven players to the first team squad (permanent and loan players). Some of the permanent players will, we hope, go on to generate sell-on profit at some point in the future.
Driven by the increase in annual investment into the squad, the significant costs associated with the change in manager and assistant manager at the beginning of the season, and the unforeseen increases in National Minimum Wage and National Insurance costs (from April), the annual support required by the shareholder to cover the club’s losses is expected to increase to c£13.4m.
The season turned out to be memorable, but ultimately not for the kind of reasons we would have preferred. On the positive side we did have a great FA Cup run, our best cup run since 1966 culminating in a quarter-final home game against top Premier League opponents Aston Villa. We had a fantastic sold out Deepdale, and our fans went above and beyond to help create an amazing atmosphere. On the negative side, post the FA Cup quarter-final our run of results was poor, leading to an extremely tense end of the season.

Our fate coming down to the very last game of the season is not something any of us would wish to repeat. We can all speculate as to how or why it happened. We can point to the numerous draws we had (at 20 it is the highest in recent history), the key player injuries and the countless horrendous refereeing decisions we had against us. I am told we suffered the most incorrect key refereeing decisions in the division – again. Boring it was not – but frankly, I would prefer to never again have the levels of stress that all of us at the club (and you fans) felt at the end of the season.

None of this changes our ambition of being in the top six next season, it just heightens our resolve to do better. Consequently, the football management team have already been reviewing in great detail all the pros and cons from the season, and they are looking to rectify and improve everything within their control.

Significant changes have already been instigated and announced as we look to strengthen the key backroom and coaching staff areas.



2025/26 season

Looking to next season. Our season cards are on sale and for the fourth season in a row, we have kept the early bird prices at one of the lowest levels in the Championship. At under £13 per game (for the cheapest adult tickets), we are keeping football affordable for the whole family in a time of ever-increasing costs. At the time of writing our early bird offer has just closed and I’m pleased to say we have closely matched last season’s total of over 11,000 season ticket sales at this stage. A huge thank you to all the fans.

There’s still plenty of time to purchase season cards, as prices remain great value for money. We will be welcoming Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton back to Deepdale having come down from the Premier League and, I am sure there’ll be quite a few fans looking forward to welcoming a slice of Hollywood, when we entertain Wrexham, as well as Birmingham and Charlton all newly promoted from League One.

The Championship is becoming more competitive and exciting in its own right. As our end of season struggles proved, being in the Championship is not a given, it is something earned by hard work, endeavour, professionalism and constant investment, both on and off field. Promotion to the Premier League is the goal of all 24 clubs and only three can make it each season. The odds are being skewed more and more each season to those with the deepest pockets and more often than not, those with the parachute riches from the Premier League. But we have belief and with you the fans behind the team we are driven and determined to succeed.



Independent Football Regulator/current state of Football

I have highlighted several times previously the grossly unfair advantages afforded some clubs through the huge parachute payments they receive, often meaning that their player wages are four or five times greater than ours. To try and put this into context, if a newly relegated club scouts a player that we are interested in, that players wage demands will often double based solely on the spending power of that club due to parachute payments.

Unless or until the new football regulator gets to grips with this “monopolising” effect caused by parachute clubs driving up costs and sorts out the financial imbalance, it is hard to see how the football landscape can improve. The unfairness will increase. Over the past four years the Premier League hierarchy have “promised” to address this financial imbalance, for the good of the football pyramid, but have consistently failed to make any formal offer to the EFL clubs.

I am however encouraged that the new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) is now in situ. Whilst the IFR has a wide remit and consequently a great deal to do, I am hopeful that the existence of the IFR knocks some common sense into the Premier League hierarchy and forces them to have a meaningful sit down with the EFL.

If, as appears to have been their tactic for a number of years, the Premier League continue to pay lip service to the EFL, then I’d like to see the IFR prioritise a new financial agreement to support the whole of the football pyramid.

The financial reality of owning a Championship football club has changed dramatically over the ten years since we won promotion from League One back to the Championship. At that time the parachute payments amounted to £64m paid over a four-year period. Today the most recent winner of Championship Play-Off final is expected to receive an extra £200m income for one season in the Premier League.

It is well publicised that PNE’s player wage bill is one of the lowest in the division, and even so we, the owners, will be investing an additional c£13m this year to cover the club’s annual losses. Post-COVID we have made significant strides in driving up revenues across all the income streams to the club. Overall sales have grown from £13.9m in season 2021/22 to over £20m today, a c44% increase over three seasons.

However, we recognise that whilst the majority of fans fully understand that PNE does not survive in the Championship without a significant level of financial support. Consistently investing c£13m into the squad and club isn’t enough and isn’t sustainable.

To make the club more financially sustainable we know we have to continue to drive sales, to drive bottom line, to trade players as and when we can, to invest more into infrastructure (including the academy) to protect the long term. We have to adapt, evolve and try and improve every aspect of how we manage the club. All of which takes time and takes money. We simply cannot afford to invest into every single area of the club (whether infrastructure or players) that we would like to. Over the last few seasons, we have undertaken a great deal of the groundwork to this – big improvements to our trading and our infrastructure have been made - but there remains a lot of work to do.

On the one hand we want to drive better revenue streams, yet on the other, it is important to keep football affordable. Our approach to season card is a prime example. By keeping the price low, consistently one of the lowest in the Championship, are we losing out on valuable income? As supported by the club now consistently achieving its highest season ticket sales since the 1960s, we believe we have the pricing strategy about right.

Player trading is one of the areas that can potentially unlock a windfall opportunity. It is an area of renewed focus. In the past two seasons we’ve had sufficient headroom to try and get back to the pre-COVID model of finding players with sell-on potential. If the right offers materialise for our players, we will look to do the best deals we can for the player and for the club.

We understand the fans’ frustration when a player chooses to run his contract down and leave for free. Why didn’t we sell and capitalise on their value? In order to sell a player, there are a number of key factors that come into play. First, you need a willing buyer. Second, you need a willing seller (the price must be right). Third, you need a player and player’s agent willing to accept the move. If the player chooses not to accept an offer of a contract extension or refuses to accept an offer to move to another club there’s nothing PNE or any other club in the same situation can do about it.

As explained previously, there are reasons why we cannot (as yet) hold concerts at Deepdale during the summer months. Rest assured all such income generating ideas are considered and analysed to evaluate the income generating potential. We don’t claim to have all the ideas, and we are grateful for all fans suggestions. We will endeavour to action those ideas that we feasibly can.

Each season we have to prioritise our spending. I understand the frustration of some fans, they are impatient, and they want us to invest into all areas of the club all at once. Unfortunately, we do not have an infinite budget. Tough decisions have to be made at management level about strengthening the existing squad versus wanting a brand-new top-flight style playing surface, or safe standing, or an investment into a new indoor arena for the academy. There is merit in these investments, and we aim to address those that we can over time.



Social Media Abuse

There are some people out there, thankfully a tiny minority, who feel that it is perfectly acceptable to use the anonymity of social media to spread their anger and vitriol, to post threats and aim abuse at players, members of PNE staff and directly at me and my family. I’m not certain what they believe their threats will achieve, but let me be clear, none of this will deter anyone at the Club from constantly trying to do what’s best for PNE.

Social media abuse in any context is unacceptable, but it is also clearly counterintuitive. It will not suddenly make anyone perform their job better. It affects a person’s mental well-being, and consequently that of their family and loved ones.

In many cases these so-called fans don’t contribute one single penny to the club. They openly boast about never purchasing a season card or attending games. These people are not PNE fans. Their sole aim is to cause discord and create hatred. I respectfully ask that real PNE fans call out this abuse and ignorance whenever and wherever they come across it.

Everyone at the club is open to constructive criticism and dialogue. We are open to honest debate. Abuse and threats have no place in this, or any football club.

We operate numerous businesses, predominantly in the North West of England and indirectly and directly we employ thousands of people across many different sectors. All these businesses and employees rely on us to continue to invest into and grow those businesses too. We spend a large percentage of our annual profits on supporting PNE and we will continue to do so whilst we remain the custodians of this great club. But I repeat, as much as we’d love to have a huge “parachute” level budget to spend on PNE, we cannot invest more than we can afford.



PNE Community and Education Trust highlights

I am delighted to be able to highlight the amazing work consistently done by the PNE Community and Education Trust. During 2024, through various programmes, they delivered £1.7m of investment into the local area. 17,000 individuals benefited from the life-enhancing work of the charity across the three work streams of Education, Health & Wellbeing and Community Engagement.

In April, the former Chief Executive, Tom Drake, left the organisation to join the central Trust operation of the EFL. This senior appointment is testament to the excellent work that Tom coordinated whilst he was with us, and he leaves with our gratitude and best wishes. Former Deputy, Harriet Creighton-Levis now steps up to take on the Chief Executive role and continue all this valuable work. I have every confidence Harriet will diligently drive forward with the same commitment and enthusiasm.



Pre-season plans

Pre-season preparations are well underway. We have the training camp arranged for mid-July in Valencia. We already announced the exciting home game against newly crowned Premier League Champions Liverpool, on Sunday 13th July and a game in Valencia against Getafe on Friday 18th July. Announcements on many other pre-season games have now been made – check the PNE website for details.

The new Castore home kit will be available for fans to purchase online from Friday 27th June and in the PNE shop from Saturday 28th June, in time for the pre-season matches. We are very excited about our new kit sponsor and thank our previous sponsor, PAR Group, for their amazing support over the years we worked together.

We have been in dialogue with our new kit sponsor for some time and are extremely excited about the opportunity of working with one of the UK’s fastest growing brands. In partnership with their international marketing team, innovative plans to maximise club and brand exposure are being finalised. The identity of our new sponsor will be announced alongside the new home kit launch on Wednesday 25th June.

New player recruitment is well underway. We have already announced four new signings in addition to the retention of Robbie Brady. These signings will add greater depth to the squad in key areas. This transfer window more than any other in my tenure as Chairman is about revolution and not evolution. Paul Heckingbottom and his coaching staff have a significant opportunity to reshape the football squad into the team and style of play they believe needed to compete for the Play-Off places.

Plans have long been made and player targets identified for the summer transfer window. We believe our scouting infrastructure, analytics focus, and efficient decision-making processes will enable us to move quickly to land some hidden gems, both from the UK and international. We know we are not perfect, and we don’t get every player signing right, but our success ratio in this regard is far higher than rival clubs. It has to be.

Where possible our aim is to contract our own players, and these will be a combination of players with good Championship experience, to add stability and toughness to the squad and with some younger players, that we believe will develop into players with long term value. Either side of this we will look to strengthen with quality loan players. We are proud of our track record of discovering loan players that go on to achieve tremendous success with us and subsequently elsewhere.

Clubs like PNE are an important part of the journey many of these players take. It would be great to have the budget to purchase them, and it is only with the power of hindsight do we know which ones we should have tried to buy. However, in most cases their parent club have a longer-term plan for their player and often a sale isn’t an option at that time. As I have said before, we should relish the time they have with us and the part we as a club play in shaping the players they become.

As ever the fans and the local media will speculate and will link us with just about every player at some point. Some will find favour and excite, and others will cause outrage. I urge fans to remember that speculation is just that, speculation and highly unlikely to be accurate. We will not comment on rumours as it makes absolutely no sense to tip any rivals off as to who we are, or are not, looking to sign.

All that remains is for me to pay tribute to the fans of PNE who continue to attend Deepdale in record numbers. Whilst I believe the football on offer in 2024/25 has been an improvement, the results have not been, and so we know there’s a great deal of work to be done over the summer for next season. Your support is never taken for granted and is always appreciated.

I urge every PNE supporter to purchase a season card and help the club achieve its goal of competing at the top end of the Championship. We cannot achieve this, and we cannot invest into the squad as much as we’d like, without you all. The fans are what makes the club tick in all aspects.

Yours sincerely

Craig Hemmings

Chairman.

Cardiff City have named Brian Barry-Murphy as their new head coach .

The 46-year-old leaves his coaching role at Leicester City to take charge at the Bluebirds following their relegation to League One.

Talks between the clubs concluded on Monday afternoon with the former Manchester City youth coach signing a three-year deal until the summer of 2028.

Current Manchester City academy coach Lee Riley has been named Barry-Murphy's assistant, having previously worked with him at Rochdale.

Owner Vincent Tan - who had the final say on the appointment - said Barry-Murphy was "the right man" to take the club forward.


Charlton Athletic's Nathan Jones and Wales captain Aaron Ramsey, who had taken temporary charge after Riza's departure, had been targeted by Cardiff during the process.

But Barry-Murphy emerged as the frontrunner for the role after advanced talks last week and will now be given the task of preparing the team for the club's first season back in the third tier since 2003.

He leaves his role at the King Power Stadium having joined Ruud van Nistelrooy's backroom in December, Cardiff paying compensation for his services.

Prior his time at Leicester, Barry-Murphy had been under-23s boss at the Etihad for three years, helping the development of the likes of Cole Palmer.

His work with young players appealed to the Cardiff hierarchy, who are keen to utilise several promising academy graduates as they look to return to the Championship.

A former midfielder with Preston North End and Sheffield Wednesday, Barry-Murphy is returning to a frontline managerial role for the first time since a two-year spell in charge at Rochdale, where he also won praise for the side's style of play and use of local talent.

In a statement, Tan said: "Throughout the interview process, Brian showed a huge passion for our club because he believes in what we're trying to do.

"He knows this level having played and managed at this standard before, where he was noted for his style of play.

"Since then, he has only gone from strength-to-strength as a leader.

"He's got a proven track record in youth development having coached some of the brightest young prospects in the UK, many of whom are now playing at the very top of the game.

"He brings enthusiasm, vibrancy and an exciting outlook on what today's football is, while looking to play an attacking style that our fans are sure to enjoy.

"It's a combination of all of Brian's great talents that make him the right man to take us forward into this next chapter."

National League side Gateshead have appointed Alun Armstrong as the club's new manager.

The 50-year-old replaces Carl Magnay who resigned earlier this month after a run of just five wins from the final 22 games of the season meant the Heed missed out on a play-off spot.

"I see it as a challenge, and it's something I'm really excited by," Gateshead-born Armstrong told the club website., external

"I want to bring some of the identity back to this club that I think it used to have."

Armstrong has previously had spells as manager of Blyth Spartans and Darlington.

During his playing career, striker Armstrong had notable spells at Stockport County and Ipswich Town, where he scored the winning goal against Inter Milan in the 2001-02 UEFA Cup.

National League club Halifax Town have appointed Adam Lakeland as the club's new manager.

Lakeland moves to The Shay after leaving his position at National League North side King's Lynn Town, where he guided the club to a play-off finish last season.

Last month, it was announced Chris Millington had stepped down as boss of the Shaymen after they were beaten by Oldham in the National League play-off semi-finals.

Lakeland started his managerial career as head coach of Blackburn Women before becoming first-team coach at Curzon Ashton, helping the club achieve back-to-back promotions to National League North.

After a stint as head coach of Northwich Victoria, Lakeland moved to Farsley Celtic and guided them to promotion to National League North in 2019.

In 2021, he returned to manage Curzon Ashton before moving to King's Lynn two years later.

Here's the predictions league   

Championship

1. Champions  1st place   

2. Automatic 2nd place   


3. 3rd position playoffs     
4. 4th position playoffs     
5. 5th position playoffs     
6. 6th position playoffs       


7. playoff winner     
8. playoff runner up     


9. Wednesdays final position     

10. 3rd from bottom relegation     
11. 2nd from bottom relegation     
12  bottom of the league relegation       




13. Premiership winners 
14. Premiership relegation   

15. Facup winners     
16.Facup quarter finalists no premiership teams allowed

17. League cup winners 
18. League cup quarter finalists no premiership teams allowed

19. Pub league winners     
New 20. Pub league Automatic promotion
21. Pub league relegation     

22. Pub league 2 winners     
New 23. Pub league automatic promotion :
24. Pub league 2 relegation     

25. National league winners     
26 National relegation       


All incorrect positions merit note that relegations are classed as without significance of position apart from our league the championship and winners of the leagues need correct positions to merit



closing date August 1st all results will be carried over to the BML and BMPL remember last season this made a big difference to the final table the last 2 seasons so choose with care.

Anyone who doesn't predict on time will automatically have 12pts deducted from the match thread table and predictions. void on this thread.

Use numbers only for the predictions it makes life easier thanks and no comments as charlie will have extra work cleaning it up you f@cking retards

Plymouth Argyle have appointed former Watford boss Tom Cleverley as their head coach.

The 35-year-old has signed a three-year contract and succeeds Miron Muslic, who left the club last month to take over at German side Schalke.

Cleverley joins an Argyle side returning to League One this season following relegation after two years in the Championship.

The former Manchester United and Everton midfielder spent the bulk of his playing career at Watford before succeeding Valerien Ismael as head coach in March 2024.

Cleverley was sacked by the Hornets in May, having missed out on the play-offs after a poor second half of the season as Watford faded badly to finish 14th.

His 14 months at the helm was the longest tenure of any boss at Vicarage Road since Javi Gracia's reign from January 2018 to September 2019.

In total, Cleverley was in charge for 60 games, winning 20, drawing 14 and losing 26.

"When we spoke to him he was completely aligned with the vision and ambitions of the club and it was clear throughout that Tom was the right fit for us.

"He is young, passionate and did a great job at Watford. We are thrilled to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing the impact he has on the talented squad at his disposal."

Talks are ongoing regarding who Cleverley will appoint to his backroom staff, with a number of coaches appointed by Muslic still listed on the Argyle website as being on the club's staff.

Cleverley could opt to link up again with Damon Lathrope, his assistant at Watford, who has also left the club and spent more than five years in two spells as a player at Plymouth's Devon neighbours Torquay United.



Argyle say they had a large number of applicants for the role, with the Pilgrims now on to their fifth permanent manager in less than two years.

Cleverley replaces Muslic, who was at the club for four months after succeeding Wayne Rooney in January.

The former England captain was only appointed in May last year following the short-lived tenure of Ian Foster, who had replaced Steven Schumacher in January 2024 when he left Home Park to take over at Stoke City.

"We were inundated with interest from prospective candidates, which shows how exciting this project is," chief executive Andrew Parkinson said.

"But throughout the process, it was clear Tom was the perfect person to take the club forward.

"He's been highly sought after, so we are really pleased we have been able to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing him build a squad and style of play that will see us challenging at the top end of League One this season."

Tom Cleverley joins a club intent on returning to the Championship at the first attempt after their relegation last season.

Having gambled on head coaches with little positive first-team experience in Ian Foster and Wayne Rooney, Argyle have gone for a man who was well-received during his time at Watford.

Despite being Argyle's fourth head coach since January 2024, he is arguably joining a more stable environment for a manager than at Watford - Steven Schumacher and Miron Muslic both left for other clubs while Foster and Rooney's poor records required their removal.

Cleverley's major concern will be recruitment and retention - Adam Randell and Ryan Hardie both have 12 months left on their deals, while the club has players such as Michael Baidoo and Rami Al Hajj who struggled to adapt to the English game last season.

He will have a decent budget for the level, with owner Simon Hallett saying it is bigger than the club had when they won League One in 2023.

But that means the pressure will be on to produce a promotion push - especially with there being no mammoth spenders like Birmingham City and Wrexham in the division this season.

Hartlepool United have appointed Simon Grayson as the National League club's new manager.

Grayson replaces Australian Anthony Limbrick, who was sacked on Thursday after four months in the role.

The 55-year-old's most recent job was with Lalitpur City in the Nepal Super League, where he won the title in April. He has managed seven clubs in England, including Leeds and Preston, as well as Bengaluru in the Indian Super League.

"The club has gone through some tough times recently but by working hard together as a staff and fanbase we can bring back the good times which this football club deserves," Grayson told the club's website, external.

Pools finished last season 11th, eight points outside the play-offs.

"I'm delighted that Simon has accepted the role," said club chairman Raj Singh.

"Simon is someone who has been on our radar for a while and he's been my preferred candidate in the past when we've looked for managers, but for one reason or the other it didn't come off."

After retiring from playing in 2006, Grayson has won promotion from League One to the Championship with Blackpool, Leeds, Huddersfield and Preston in his managerial career.

Hartlepool have sacked manager Anthony Limbrick after four months in charge.

Former The New Saints boss Limbrick took over from Lennie Lawrence in February and guided Pools to an 11th-placed finish in the National League.

Earlier this week it was reported that Pools had an approach for Boston boss Graham Coughlan turned down.

Hartlepool are up for sale after owner Raj Singh resigned as chairman in March.

"We'd like to thank Anthony for all his hard work and efforts during his time with the club and wish him all the very best for the future," Pools said in a statement., external

"All board members were consulted and it was decided a change was needed

As a part of our continual review of not only the playing squad but also the professional football management and coaching staff, the following structure and appointments are being put in place for the start of the 2025/26 season.

In addition to the existing coaching staff reporting to manager Paul Heckingbottom – Stuart McCall, Peter Murphy and Mike Pollitt – we are delighted to announce the appointment of Jason Euell as a First Team Coach. Jason joins us having played over 400 league games in his career, the majority of which came at the highest level of English football, as well as representing Jamaica and England U21s internationally.

Andy Liddell joins us as Fitness Coach to replace John Lucas who is taking up a similar role within the Australian A-League. John leaves us with our best wishes and thanks. Andy, who made more than 650 appearances as a player, has previously worked in fitness coaching roles with Ipswich Town, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Rapid Bucharest.

The club’s Head of Recruitment, James Wallace will appoint Tom Reeves to his staff from 23rd June 2025 as Chief Scout. Tom joins us having had extensive scouting experience most recently with Middlesbrough and Norwich City. Ben Smith, who was originally a Performance Analyst, completes James’ in-house team as a Recruitment Analyst. We will no longer be using MRKT Insights but thank their staff for their work over the last few years.

The performance analysis team under Charlie Ager welcomes Joe Walmsley, who arrives from Wigan Athletic. James McGown and Tom Hughes have left this team and depart with our best wishes for the future.

The physiotherapy and medical team remain unaltered under Matt Jackson and Dr Dominic Lakeland.