Legendary striker Jon Main comes back home

TONBRIDGE ANGELS boss Tommy Warrilow has spoken of his delight in pulling off a masterstroke in bringing LEGENDARY striker Jon Main back home to Longmead Stadium following his release from Football League bound AFC Wimbledon, writes Stephen McCartney.


One of Warrilow’s first acts when he arrived from Horsham back in November 2007 was to sell the striker to then Ryman Premier League rivals AFC Wimbledon for a record-breaking transfer fee of £25,000, after scoring 69 goals in 89 starts for the Angels.

Main broke a club record when he scored 44 goals for the Angels during season 2006-07. The silent assassin has signed a one-year contract with the club.

AFC Wimbledon certainly got value for money for the Greenwich-born striker, who scored 61 goals in 91 starts for the south-west Londoners, but in their final season in the Blue Square Premier, the first season as a full-time club, his opportunities were limited to just eight starts, so Terry Brown loaned him out to Blue Square Bet South sides Dover Athletic and Dartford  last season, before he was one of five players to be released on 24 May.

Warrilow, who also brought central midfielder Anthony Storey, 26, back to the club following spells with Hastings United and Horsham last season, has certainly saved the best of his summer transfers to last.

When asked how he pulled off the transfer of thirty-year-old Main, Warrilow said: “Patiently to be honest!  I spoke to Mainy a few weeks ago.  He wanted to come home but at the same time his phone has been red hot.

“I let him speak to everyone, he kept me informed, had a chat with him and he’s had a phone call from a Football League club so he sourced that avenue, which is understandable.  He went away to Las Vegas with the Wimbledon boys and he phoned me from out there.

“He always wanted to come home.  He turned down some big deals.  He’s realised he needs to sort out a career outside of football as well and I think we’ve signed up a gem.

“He had a rest last year when he was in and out of the team, got rested and got loaned out and at thirty-years-old we’re going to get the best out of Mainy.

“People who are saying he’s had his best day are in for a rude awakening. I want him to come back, relax and enjoy himself.  He’s got nothing to prove to us but at the same time I don’t want him to put his feet up.  He stopped me in mid-sentence.  He wants to score goals and that’s what he’s all about.  He wants to better himself and get more goals than he did get that year (when he scored 44).

“In the past we’ve not put away our chances and we’ve always been caught out on breaks and hopefully this year with Ade (Olorunda), Frannie (Collin) and Mainey up there we’ll eradicate that from our game.”

Warrilow insists there’s no bad feeling between the pair after selling him to AFC Wimbledon back in 2007.

“No! It was good business for both parties,” explained Warrilow.

“It was a fantastic deal for us and I’ll never stop any player for progressing and Mainy came in to that category.  Wimbledon came in for him and when somebody comes in for you when it’s that size of club I would never stop any player, as long as it was right for the player and the club.

“If I said No, I would quite easily, I’d have a player that was unhappy and I don’t want that in our changing room.  It was done in the right way but again we’ll bear the fruits that he’s come back to play for us.”

Warrilow, 46, added: “A player that is like a legend at the club, our final signing of the season, it will hopefully put a nice smile on the supporters’ faces and a nice present for them.

“But he’s come back because he can score goals and do the business – he’s not coming back for the sentimental favour.  He’s come here to do what he’s done in the past and that’s to score goals.

With Chris Piper parting company with the club after making 40 starts last season, Warrilow has brought Anthony Storey back to the club, which has brought a mixed reaction from the Longmead faithful.
Storey was in tears when he was told he had to leave the club last summer, but he didn’t adhere himself to the Angels’ fans when Horsham were defeated at Gorings Mead on the final day of the league season.

“I was speaking to Chris Piper, he’s been offered deals elsewhere. We’re prepared to pay players down at our football club and we look after our players.  Chris wanted a little bit more, which we couldn’t afford.  I didn’t go into figures but there’s no hard feelings, these things happen in football,” explained Warrilow.

“Once Chris hesitated, I knew I would struggle to keep him as he’s a good player and I know a lot of teams that are bigger than us that are interested in him.”

Speaking about Storey’s return, the Angels boss said: “I know he’s left in a cloud but these things happen in football and when he plays against us he wants to upset everyone, including our players’ and fans’.

“It’s a football decision.  He’s played 180 odd games in the Conference South.  I perhaps held him back in a holding role (in his first spell) but it will be different this year for a player who likes to be on the ball.

“I’ve got no qualms with Stoz coming back.  It’s a football decision and he will be a massive boost to our midfield, which is now defensively and going forward very, very strong.

“I think Stoz will enjoy it more now than ever when he’s got a licence to roam and get himself into the game and make his presence felt.”

Warrilow added: “He had two or three clubs that wanted him at Ryman Premier and Conference South.

“I know he upset the fans, I know that and vice-versa, but he’ll be the first one to have a drink with them and apologise – it’s water under the bridge.

“I’d rather have him in my side than not in my side.”

One player that won’t be returning is Tonbridge based striker Paul Booth, who finished second in Blue Square Bet South last season with Farnborough, who will be a full-time outfit next season, along with Eastleigh and Truro City.

“We were always hoping Mainy would come back – if there was no feedback from the Football League club,” explained Warrilow.

“I spoke to Boothy straight away out of respect.  Paul Booth is a fantastic forward who has a goalscoring record second to none and he wanted to come back as well but I told Boothy straight away as soon as I signed Mainy.”

Warrilow has now eaten up his entire budget and will run with a sixteen man squad next season and will only increase the size of his squad if he has the funds to do so.

For that to happen, however, the west Kent public must flock through the turnstiles, just like they did against Harrow Borough and Lowestoft Town in those glorious Ryman Premier League play-off showdowns.

Warrilow said: “Please God all I’m hoping now is that the turnstiles start clicking.  We don’t know if we’re going to get the same 400 people or 500 people, or are we going to get 500-600 people, or 700-800 people.

“We don’t know until the first game of the season what gates we’re going to get, but we really hope we’ll get a lot more interest in us next year.”

Warrilow has released three of his promotion winning squad.  Tonbridge-based left winger, Fraser Logan, who can also play as an emergency striker, and strikers Adrian Stone (who lives in Bromley) and Sittingbourne based Carl Rook (who undergoes a groin operation during the close season) have parted company with the club.

Visit Tonbridge Angels’ website: www.tonbridgeangels.co.uk