Blyth Spartans Sign Richard Offiong

Blyth Spartans are delighted to announce the signing of 'jet heeled' striker Richard Offiong, following a spell in Australia.

The 27-year-old, South Shields born forward, started his career with Newcastle United, where his goalscoring achievements saw him pick up numerous England youth appearances upto Under-20 level. Whilst at the Magpies, he enjoyed a loan spell at Darlington under former Spartans manager Mick Tait.

A career which has seen the forward ply his trade in Turkey, South Korea and Belguim before a goal-laden spell in Scotland with Hamilton Academicals saw the striker move to Carlisle United for £75,000. His time at Brunton Park was not a happy one and he later joined Ostersunds FK (the team in Sweden which Richard Logan, Simon Todd and Shaun Vipond all played for) and then moved into the Conference Premier with Darlington and Gateshead.

It is hoped that the striker will receive International Clearance in time to face Bedlington Terriers at Croft Park on Saturday in the FA Cup (kick off 3pm).

Manager Steve Cuggy commented "We delighted to get Richard on board. He has electric pace and this will give us a different dimension to our attack, as well as offering us additional firepower upfront, which a couple of injuries have sadly robbed us of."

"He's a local lad and was really keen to join us, in fact he actually got in contact with us about joining the club. He's trained with the lads all this week and has settled in really well and has done really well in the session."

The player was also delighted to be pulling on the famous green and white shirt stating "It is a perfect move for me and I'm delighted to have signed for Blyth."

"It is great that I could make my debut in the FA Cup as I know how important the competition is to the club. I made one of my first senior starts on loan at Darlington in the FA Cup and managed to get a couple of goals, so it would be nice if I can do the same on Saturday should my clearance come through."

"I've played at Croft Park once before, as a Newcastle United player in the Senior Cup Final in 2001, ironically against Bedlington Terriers and managed to get a goal in a 3-1 win that night"

Welcome to the club Richard

(Above:) Richard meets vice chairman Kevin Scott and chairman Tony Platten, following him putting pen to paper on his deal at Croft Park.