The Harriers have now returned to training following the summer break and with the players fresh from their trip to the seaside they'll now begin the task of getting themselves ready for the task in hand.  That task begins with the first of the friendly games at Stratford on July 9th.

With Keith Lowe, James McQuilkin and Jared Hodgkiss all committing themselves for another season we have only lost the services of Evan Garnett and Omari Patrick after they declined the chance to stay at Aggborough.

We have seen a minor flurry of new faces coming in too with Wayne Thomas (defender) Sam Austin (forward (right)) and Sam Hornby (keeper) from Burton Albion while two more forwards have been added in the guise of Andre Brown from Crewe Alexandra and Mani Dieseruvwe from Chesterfield.  Finally this week Ashley Carter, a defender, joined us after being released by Wolves at the end of last season and he probably won't be the last with James Kellermann, midfielder from Wolves and Ben Priest, defender from Dundee, have both been spotted at the training ground.

The list of friendly games now seem to be complete and they can be found here.  The club are doing something of a deal for the Hereford FC game due to be played on July 26th where you can get in for free but you have to attend the Burton game on the 19th and the Doncaster game on the 23rd to collect your vouchers for the Hereford game.  It'll help to reduce the cost for the fans a little but it also confirms that five home friendlies can prove expensive at £10 a time plus a pound for your kids too.

Next week, the 6th, we can all wait with baited breath for the release of the fixtures for the coming season starting on August 6th.  I know it won't be the same as in previous years with very few real big teams to look forward to but we do have more local games this season with Worcester, Tamworth, Gloucester, Nuneaton and Telford all within a hours ride and for the groundhopper there are quite a few new grounds to visit too.

We have also seen the release of the new away shirt too and, for once, even I'm feeling tempted to buy one.  It just looks a little different from the usual offering but find out for yourself here then buy one.

That's it then with this months update and once the friendlies are out of the way we can 'begin' to look forward to the new season.