Farnborough FC

Football: King snaps up strike duo

By Charlie Oliver
June 04, 2009

STEVE King said within minutes of arriving at Farnborough that he would be bringing some exciting forwards to the club – and he has been as good as his word.

Fresh from the signing of former Ipswich Town striker Dean McDonald on Tuesday, King tied up the arrival of Anthony Thomas from Hemel Hempstead on Wednesday.

Both players have signed two-year contracts with Farnborough.

Thomas is well-known to Boro fans from last season. First the former Barnet striker terrorised Farnborough, scoring one and making another as The Tudors won 3-1 over the festive period.

More recently Thomas was outstanding in all but his finishing in the Southern Premier semi-final between Boro and Hemel at the end of April, in which Thomas narrowly missed a series of chances and had a penalty saved in normal time by Richard Barnard.

But those misses were out of keeping with his previous record at Hemel, where he scored nearly 80 goals in all competitions across two seasons, earning a £15,000 fee from Barnet.

While he only scored a handful of goals in the Football League and his career has drifted a little in the last two years, it is still quite a coup for King to snap up the strong, pacey, 26-year-old.

“He’s a proven goalscorer,” said King. “And they are hard to find. He’s not just a 15-goal-a-season man, he’s a 25-er.

“I know that he ripped Boro apart on occasions last season and it’s a major coup for us to get him as I know that clubs at a higher level were after him.

“But I sold him the club and told him what’s going on here. He’s keen to get his head down and enjoy his football.”

McDonald, 23, has also drifted down the Football League, after playing in the Championship for Ipwich and initially impressing at first Gillingham and then last season, at Rushden & Diamonds in the Conference.

“Dean was playing Championship football as little as 18 months ago,” said King. It was actually a little further back than that but, it is true, McDonald had played 50-odd games in the Football League, plus time with Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Premier League.

“Dean is way too good for this level but, like I have done, and Anthony too, he is taking a step back to get his career going forward again.”

Latterly, McDonald linked up briefly with King at Northwich Victoria last season, in what was the Boro manager’s last week in charge in Cheshire.

McDonald hit the winning goal in his only outing for the club, against Kidderminster Harriers.

McDonald soon followed King out of the club and scored six goals in 10 games for Tooting & Mitcham, in the Ryman League.

“We are very excited to have a player of Dean’s calibre joining the club,” King added.

“To get a player of his ability to come here is fantastic and a real coup for us.

“He just needs to settle down now, which is why we have given him a two-year deal. He’s been at a few clubs and needs to settle down.

“Hopefully he can do that at Farnborough, score plenty of goals, and get us where we want to be.

“He’s got all the attributes, and I hope we will reap the rewards from that.”

King is likely to bring in several more players in the next few weeks, as his squad takes shape ahead of the Southern Premier season – Boro were confirmed in the proposed members of that division by the FA last week.

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