NEW SIGNING | Stones capture Kretzschmar

Stuart Maynard said he was absolutely humbled by the generosity of the fans in helping to bring long-time target Max Kretzschmar to the club.

After being made aware of the availability of the former Woking midfielder in the prime of his career, long-time fan Jeremy Albert reached out to a group of around 100 fans to see if they could help contribute to the deal.

The response was overwhelming, with a five-figure sum being raised which meant Chairman Rory Fitzgerald, the board and Maynard were able to get the move for the 28-year-old over the line and trump the interest of other teams.

“I can’t thank the fans enough for digging deep in these inflationary times to help contribute to this massive signing for the club, our club," said Maynard. "I’m blown away by the generosity and how you’ve helped me, Matty and the board build the strongest team possible. It just shows how special this place is and how we are all in it together.

"As a management team and as a club, this signing has been in the works for two years now, so we’re incredible excited and relieved to announce it.

"Max is an unbelievable coup for us as a football club, as he had a lot of options in this division. He’s someone who had his best season last season, so is coming to us right in his prime. He gets double figures from midfield every season, and we believe we can get even more out of him by playing him off the front. We’ve had so many conversations over the years and the way we played last season, the vision we have for him as a second striker and our belief in how the game should be played, is what has got Max to chose us.

"We’ve had to stay incredibly patient in this window as we didn’t want to stand still, but that required us to be brave and wait for the right opportunities to come up, rather than sign players for the sake of it. This signing, along with the others we’ve made have been part of an extensive recruitment plan, and we’re delighted it’s paid dividends.

"Max will quickly become a fans favourite as he will leave everything on the pitch, and I’m sure he will provide us with some memorable moments this season with his quality. He’s a player that has it all, so we’re delighted to have him with us on our journey moving forwards."

Catch Max and his new teammates in action at Grosvenor Vale this season and save money week in, week out when you buy a 2022/23 Season Ticket!