Arnison becomes a Spartan

Blyth Spartans are thrilled to announce the signing of midfielder Harry Arnison following a successful trial period with the Club.

The 21-year-old took part in last Thursday's training session and featured against Hartlepool United the following Saturday too, impressing in a more offensive midfield position.

Son of former Football League professional, Paul Arnison, Harry spent the 2022/23 campaign playing for Aberystwyth Town in the JD Cymru Premier League. He made a total of 29 appearances for the Ceredigion-based outfit in all competitions, scoring five goals and assisting four times.

Harry is a dual UK-Australian citizen and before his time in Wales, he represented the likes of the Queensland Regional Youth Team as well as captaining Brisbane Roar Youth whilst leading his side to a National Youth League title in 2019.

The following year, in 2020, he made a switch to Sunshine Coast Wanderers of the Queensland National Premier League; he turned out for the side on more than 60 occasions and was an NPL All-Star Selection in 2021.

Speaking upon the arrival of Harry, Graham Fenton commented: "I touched base with his Dad (Paul Arnison) probably about six weeks ago and I got some footage from him. We tried to get him in earlier in pre-season but he had opportunities to go and try out full time and he wanted to go and explore that opportunity.

"But when the opportunity for us came to bring him into training last Thursday and then get him involved in the game on Saturday against Hartlepool we jumped at it. We've been really impressed with him not only in the game on Saturday but throughout the training session too.

"We like the way he conducts himself, he looks like a really really good player and he's going to strengthen our options in midfield."

He continued: "We went to four in midfield on Saturday, and we asked him if he'd prefer to play a more defensive or offensive role in midfield and he chose to player more offensively which was great as it allowed us to play Devs (Nicky Deverdics) a little bit deeper and it worked quite well.

"Obviously, just for the first try, we're quite pleased with it; Harrison (Clark) dropped into the backline and looked like he'd been playing there for a while to be quite honest, I was really impressed with his performance alongside the other two centre backs.

"What it does is, it shows that we've got versatility, we've got options in that backline to go to a three or keep it as a two or four whichever way you like to look at it, but we're strong in midfield as well, you generally build your team around the spine and we're looking strong throughout the spine of our team definitely."

Speaking on signing for the Club, Harry said: "I'm absolutely buzzing to have signed for Blyth Spartans. It's an incredible opportunity, and I can't wait to hit the ground running with the team.

"I came in and played against Hartlepool and I thought the lads played well, the style of football suits me down to a tee. I'm looking forward to a successful upcoming season."

Welcome to Croft Park, Harry!