FC Boro

It was confirmed this afternoon that Craig Westcarr has re-joined Kettering Town, the club he apparently left in the summer. This whole saga has been a nightmare. When the deal started Kettering chairman Imraan Ladaak accused Stevenage of “illegally approaching” Westcarr who was out of contract this summer. This was a claim that Phil Wallace and Boro strongly denied and a few weeks later the club announced that it had agreed terms with the ex Nottingham Forest striker to join Boro subject to the two clubs agreeing a compensation fee due to the player being under 24 years of age.

This fee seemed to take a long time to agree, but at the SA AGM Bob Makin told supporters that a deal should be reached within days! This though was never confirmed and I assume never happened as Westcarr didn’t make a competitive appearance for Stevenage. Westcarr played in a number of pre-season friendlies for Boro this summer, but I don’t think ever registered to play for the club in the Blue Square Premier.

It now seems that both Boro and Kettering won’t be able to come to a “sensible” solution regarding a compensation fee for Westcarr, so therefore he has moved back to the Poppies in time to face rivals Rushden & Diamonds at Rockingham Road on Saturday. In one way I’m glad it’s over and the news he has gone back to Kettering will now end the speculation over his future, but I thought he would be a good addition to the squad. It’s disappointing that both sides couldn’t agree a fee after all this time and I’m sure Westcarr himself must be a bit pissed off to say the least after spending all pre-season with Boro only to move back to Kettering anyway. What’s the betting he will score the winner against us now when we travel to Northants in a couple of weeks time!

UPDATE: The official site has now reported that Westcarr has gone back to Kettering. Classic cover up story here.