NEW GULL PROFILE

Matty Hayward – @MattyHayward96

Matty discusses the new striker

I’m really annoyed. I’m really annoyed about that signing video. The location could’ve been so much more imaginative; it’s not even the best tourist attraction in a half-mile radius of itself. Seymour could’ve seen more from a view of the Downs. Or he could’ve dwarfed the model village. Even the place he went to really needs refurbishing. It’s so outdated!!

Oh well, it’s in the past now, I guess we need to let Bygones be –

You get the idea.

Hours after the welcome announcement that Bradley Ash had got himself a new bath(???), he got himself a partner.

Ben Seymour is his name, and this is his game.

CAREER SUMMARY

Seymour was born in Watford, but moved to Devon at a very young age. He spent much of his early career on the books at Exeter City. Before being invited to make his debut for the Grecians, the forward spent time on loan at Weston-super-Mare, Bideford, Gloucester and Dorchester. His spells at Weston and Gloucester weren’t massively successful, but the other two certainly were. For Biddy, the eighteen-year-old scored 21 times in 33 games, and in the following season he notched up 14 from 26 for Dorchester. These are numbers for a teenager that, frankly, put the Olaf Koszelas of this world to shame.

So impressive were his loan spells that Seymour earned himself a dig for his parent club. In 2019/20, he played eleven times in the league, and a further eleven in the various cup competitions. That season, he played 45 minutes in their playoff semi-final, a win over Colchester. Great for him, I’m sure. He didn’t play in the final and they lost the final 4-0. Great for us, I’m sure. Even more amusingly, Dean Moxey got sent off that day.

The following campaign brought Ben a further 39 appearances for City, though the vast majority of them were from the bench. He netted his first two professional goals in consecutive Papa Johns games, before scoring his first proper one in a 2-1 win at Colchester. His record in Essex is, frankly, peerless, and that’ll serve him well in this toilet league.

If he hadn’t played for enough south western teams, Seymour sacked off the drudgery of the EFL Trophy and had brief dalliances with Yeovil Town then Bath City. This wasn’t enough to earn him a deal with our rugby-loving neighbours, and he was released in 2022.

From there, he did what any good striker does. He went out and scored goals. Bags of them. Twenty in 37 for Plymouth Parkway (in the league below our current league) meant that he attracted some more serious suitors. Indeed, many Torquay fans considered him to be a sensible signing last summer. However, overlooked by Pete Johnson’s flawless radar, the striker made his first move out of the south west and joined Hampton and Richmond. There, he found the net another fourteen times, and caught the eye of Paul Wotton.

At 25, he’s arguably entering into his prime now. I’m sure that a return to Devonian professional football was a significant carrot to have dangled under his nose, and one that he couldn’t help but have a good old nibble on.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here you can see that goal at Colchester, which apparently won Exeter’s goal of the month. It’s no screamer, and one can only imagine that it was something of a barren February for the Grecians, but it’s a decent header for a young lad.

And here’s a surely unprecedented angle of his only goal for Gloucester, at East Thurrock. I’m fairly certain he won’t count this as a “highlight” of his career, but YouTube is what it is.

Finally, here are five minutes of Hampton and Richmond tearing us to shreds last October. Shaun Donnellan played in the hole behind Brad Ash in this game. We should’ve known, then, really. Seymour looks lively throughout: he definitely knows how to embarrass a desperately immobile defence. He makes the first goal – which may be an OG – and then converts a penalty that he won for the second. It’s Seymour’s occupation of Ollie Tomlinson that earns his pal all the time in the world to finish the third. All of this is commentated on by a man with a delightful Caribbean lilt, if you were undecided about watching it.

TALKING ABOUT SEYMOUR

@@TRHamptonFC – Quick, nippy striker. Poacher who’s scores in the box a lot. Penalty specialist, runs all day long, excellent in behind and holding the ball up. Based in Exeter, a top top striker.

SEYMOUR STATS

DATE OF BIRTH: 16TH APRIL 1999 – 25 YEARS-OLD

HEIGHT: 1.72M

POSITION: STRIKER

NLS 23-24 STATS: APPEARANCES 41, GOALS 13

MOST LIKELY/LEAST LIKELY

Most Likely To

I’m happy to call it now: he’ll be our top scorer. Not an outlandish claim, I know, but I think he’s got a lot of good attributes. He’s scored a decent number at this level, and an absolute busload at the level below. If we get him good service (and perhaps creativity is where our new recruits slightly lack so far), then he will fire them in. (BIG CAVEAT, I HAVE SAID SIMILAR THINGS ABOUT PLAYERS LIKE DAN HOLMAN AND KARL HAWLEY).

Take the pens. With Asa and Aaron out the door, there’s a vacancy there, and Seymour appears to have bagged plenty from the spot in his career. He’s the man.

Least Likely To

Have low expectations of his teammates. His interview was excellent: he said he wouldn’t have come if the aim wasn’t promotion. Unlike so many in our squad last year, Seymour has missed one chance at being a pro footballer, and earned himself another go. He won’t be giving that up lightly.

Go goalless in Essex. Following his success at Colchester, you can put your house on the Chelmsford Aveley double whammy.

CONCLUSION

I think the highlights clip from the game against us shows you all you need to know about Ben Seymour. Physically, he’s not huge, but he’s a quick and willing runner who will battle in the air for you too. It’s clear that he’s got good feet, and can bring teammates into play. And he scores goals.

One factor is that he does seem quite similar in profile to Brad Ash. There may be question marks about whether they can play together, and – while it’s not exactly The Gerrard And Lampard Question – I think Wotton will have to work hard to work that out. Jadyn Crosbie, our rags-to-riches (ish!) target man, is the third forward option, and the trio fit together to create an exciting frontline. You’d expect another striker to be added, probably on loan, and suddenly we’re looking balanced and well-stocked in the final third.

It really is a new era.