Smith Didn’t Want League 2 Football

Manager Graham Westley has confirmed the reasoning for Stevenage accepting a low five figure sum for midfielder Jimmy Smith.

Speaking to the Official Site the gaffer explained.

‘I spoke to all of the players at the end of the season and Jimmy was very clear that he didn’t want to play League 2 football. At this time of year, there is no point in hanging onto players who want to be elsewhere and who have suitors waiting to buy them.’

Westley says there’s no hard feelings about it as it’s football and he can understand why he didn’t want to make the drop, so the choice was simple, Crawley made their offer, it was accepted to draw a line on things, and Jimmy now departs with Westley ‘wish(ing) him well.’

‘He wore the armband as vice captain and he was a good professional.’

For the gaffer though he retains the belief that however good Smith was for us, the bottom line is the club will be stronger by having players who want to be at the club, so he continues to be confident about rebuilding us for success as he moves forward again.