Hamworthy Recreation boss Pat Notley has defended Crispen Riglar’s decision to turn down the chance to join Weymouth.
The Magna Road scoring sensation was offered terms by the Terras after netting on his debut in a trial game against Yeovil Town, earlier this month. But after weighing up his options, the 27-year-old Broadstone-based engineer decided to stay with the reigning Dorset Premier League cham-pions.
Notley told Echosport: “There has been suggestions that we pay our players at Hamworthy Recreation and that’s simply not true. In fact, quite the opposite. Every player contributes £6 a month into a fundraising scheme and Crispen is no exception. I don’t want people to think that we’re one of those clubs who are trying to buy success, because we’re not. We’re an amateur set up where lads play for the fun of it and we wouldn’t stand in the way of someone who had the chance to better themselves. Look at Dan Walsh at Dorchester. He’s a young lad who was with us last season and who we didn’t want to lose. But when Dorchester made an approach we encouraged him to go and he’s doing very well down at the Avenue Stadium.”
While Notley claims that money wasn’t an issue for Riglar, he described the offer made by the Terras as “derisory”.
“I don’t think Crispen gives two hoots about the money,” explained Notley, “but what Weymouth offered him was dreadful. They asked him to travel up to Cambridge a couple of weeks ago and sit on the bench and in return they’d give him £30 a week. Your talking about leaving first thing in the morning and returning late at night and £30 is ridiculous for that sort of commitment. At the end of the day, Crispen has got a job to consider, along with a young family and there’s another baby on the way. After weighing it all up, he just felt it wasn’t worth it and that he was happy to continue playing his football at Magna Road.”
He added: “I have a lot of time for Weymouth manager Geoff Butler and I can understand he’s frustrated at not getting Crispen. But the lad has had plenty of better offers from teams in the Wessex League and you can’t blame him for not going. We’re a happy club at Hamworthy and it’s a great advert for us that he wants to stay. He’s a smashing boy, very quiet and unassuming, and it would be wrong for Weymouth fans to think of him as money grabbing and unambitious. Personally I’d love to see him succeed at a higher level and it may well happen one day. But at the same time I’m delighted that he’s decided to stay at Hamworthy.”