Second keeper Saunders joins the Boro

Stafford Rangers are pleased to announce the signing of experienced goalkeeper Russell Saunders.

Saunders, 37, joins the club having recently left Bury, where he was a popular figure both with staff and fans and part of their past two promotion winning campaigns.

Russell’s addition brings a wealth of experience to the goalkeeping department, having started his career at Wigan Athletic, he moved on to a number of North-West based non-league clubs including Hyde United, Chorley, and Altrincham, where he won promotion to the Conference National in 2014.

Coaching Role

As well as joining the club to push and offer his 20 years of experience to Leon Phillips, Russ will also assist Scott Cooksey with goalkeeper coaching, a role he is familiar with given his previous coaching experience as a 1 to 1 Goalkeeper Coach.

On signing Russ, manager Graham Deakin said

“I’m delighted to get Russ signed. This shows we are doing business in every department and we now have two high quality goalkeepers in Leon and Russ.

In recent years, the knock on effect caused by goalkeeper injuries has been there for everyone to see, so having a strong goalkeeping unit is absolutely vital for where we want to take the club, and they will push each other every training session and game.

Russ brings a wealth of experience and is a winner. He was part of the Bury squad that won back to back promotions, and was in a high-performance, winning environment that we are trying to cultivate at the club.

Alongside his player role he will also support Scott Cooksey with training sessions for the other goalkeepers, so I am really pleased with the addition of Russ and look forward to seeing him get down to work.”

Welcome to the club Russell Saunders.