Rawle In Dramatic U-Turn

Rawle in happier times

The ex-Boston United and Rushden & Diamonds striker had seemingly agreed to play for Southend United in the 2003/4 campaign after assuring manager Steve Wignall that he would visit the club on Friday to sign the one-year deal that was tabled. The contract itself was not to the satisfaction of agent Colin Hart all along, and he had been hawking the front runner from one club to another, disclosing that a prominent Nationwide Conference club had offered a good deal, and that up to five Football League clubs were also willing to talk.

That had all seemed to be in the past, though, when Wignall announced on the official Shrimpers website (www.southendunited.co.uk) that, "Mark contacted the club secretary about half an hour ago and said that he would come in on Friday and sign". However, the seeds of doubt were sown in the manager's mind as he commented, "I don't know why it has taken him this long to come to this decision. He only lives locally so I presume that logically he must be elsewhere otherwise he could have got in today".

It has now become known that Rawle, who made 89 appearances in all for the Seasiders, scoring twenty times, has been in the Oxford area, and U's fans were notified at around three o'clock this afternoon that Rawle would be joining them instead on a similar length deal, subject to passing a medical. The official Oxford United website, www.oufc.co.uk, has confirmed the agreement. However, the dealings are sure to leave a bitter pill in the mouths of Southend fans throughout the world.

Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com