Vastly-experienced defender Antony Kay has signed for Runcorn Linnets from JD Cymru Premier League club Bala Town.

He is one of football's most enduring characters and a triple promotion-winning veteran of 595 English Football League games with 49 goals to his credit.

Antony, who will be 41 years old in October, starred in the EFL until the age of 36, operating in midfield as well as defence.

He is a contemporary of our manager Billy Paynter and while they were never team-mates, their paths crossed in opposition.

Anthony played regularly for Bala last season, making 30 appearances and reaching the Welsh Cup final.

In each of his three campaigns with the Gwynedd club, they have played in UEFA competitions - either the Europa League or Europa Conference League.

Antony began his long professional career with hometown club Barnsley, making his senior debut, aged 17, in August 2000.

He accumulated 174 League aearances for the South Yorkshire outfit.

Winning an England Under 18s cap in 2001, Anthony was the Tykes' Player of the Season in 2003-04, scoring the winning penalty of a shootout in the Play-off Final as his hometown club were promoted from League One.

In June 2007, Antony moved to Tranmere Rovers, being named Player of the Year in his second season before a transfer to Huddersfield Town in May 2009 culminated in Antony securing a second-time promotion to the Championship, again through the Play-offs.

A third such feat was achieved as he stayed in the third tier for the following season on joining Milton Keynes Dons, who were promoted as League One runners-up in 2014-15. Antony had 142 League outings for the Buckinghamshire club.

Moving to Bury in June 2016, Antony was Shakers' club skipper before the following year signing for Port Vale.

Again awarded a club csptaincy, he stayed at Vale Park for two years, his next port of call being then Vanarama National League Premier club Chorley in January 2020.

Antony's time in Lancashire was curtailed by Covid and eight months later, he was heading to Bala where league finishes of third, second and fifth were achieved.

We welcome Antony to APEC Taxis Stadium and hope he enjoys his time at Linnets.

Wideman Will Saxon is Runcorn Linnets manager Billy Paynter's first new signing ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Will, 25, joins from fellow Pitching In Northern Premier West outfit Kidsgrove Athletic, having returned for his second spell with the Staffordshire club in September 2022 after two years at Leek Town.

An eye-atching player, Will's 30 appearances for The Grove last season featured an impressive home outing against Runcorn on April 1st as we memorably triumphed 1-0 in Billy's first game in charge.

Will had begun the season at Leek, scoring twice in as many games.

He had featured for the Harrison Park club in all three games against Linnets in 2021-22, appearing as a sub in the first of our two successive Play-off semi-final victories over the Blues.

Will had first burst on to the scene with Kidsgrove in 2018-19.

His two outings against Runcorn that season brought a 2-1 away defeat for The Grove in February 2019 and a 5-0 victory the following month.

Given our manager's knowledge of the Stsffordshire football scene, from his time coaching in Port Vale Academy, it is perhaps no surprise that Billy has returned to Staffordshire to begin recruiting from outside the existing Linnets squad.

However, Will lives in Cheshire and while much of his career so far has been spent in the neighbouring county, he also had a spell at Step 3 - in Northern Premier League Premier Division - with Nantwich Town, who he joined in June 2019.

It was from the Dabbers that Will moved in July 2020 to Leek, where his personal highlights included a hat-trick against Market Drayton Town in January 2022 and a spectacular 20-yard effort at Clitheroe in September 2021.

Hopefully, there will be many more magic moments for him at APEC Taxis Stadium.

Welcome to Runcorn Linnets, Will!

All our summer signings are subject to approval by the FA and/or the NPL.

The club will be losing another of our regulars for 2023-24 with Tom Moore deciding to move on after a successful season with Runcorn Linnets.

It was a campaign in which he made 41cappearances with three goals, starring at centre half and right back but mostly as a defensive midfielder.

The 6ft 4in player established himself as a regular Linnets starter, having arrived at the club last summer after an injury-troubled 2021-22 in which he had been limited to 90 minutes of football in nine months.

A strong athlete and good technician, Tom featured prominently in our campaigns in the County Cups and West Division Play-offs, appearing in the Liverpool Senior Cup final against Marine and the promotion decider at Workington.

We are grateful to Tom for his contribution and wish him good luck and success in the future.

We say goodbye to,Macauley Clifton as he leaves his hometown Runcorn Linnets to pursue football opportunities elsewhere.

Macca was a valued member of our squad, after making the step up from the Under 21s side last September.

The midfielder appeared 10 times for the first team with four starts and one goal, scoring in the Cheshire Senior Cup victory over Chester.

He was dual registered in the North West Counties League, playing in turn for Lower Breck and Runcorn Town.

We thank Macca for all his efforts in his time with the club, this including lengthy service in the junìor and youth sections, and wish him all the best with his future endeavours.

We're very saddened to report that longest-serving player Ally Brown has decided to move on after more than four years at the club.

Experienced right full back Ally had been a regular in our team since making his Linnets debut in March 2019 and became an integral part of our playing style.

He made 137 appearances with five goals, four of them having come in 2022-23.

Ally had last season been given a roving commission when pushing forward from defence, drifting inside from the flank to find himself in shooting positions more often.

It was a role he performed admirably, without neglecting his defensive duties.

Unfortunately, having twice won promotion to Step 3 earlier in his career, Ally couldn't quite make it a hat-trick.

But nobody could have given any more to the Runcorn cause.

Ally's dedication and the way he has looked after his fitness are great credit to him.

We thank Ally for his tremendous service.

He will be greatly missed and we wish him well with whatever comes next for him.