“He felt like he had to take that offer” – Thornbury Town manager Richard Joyce on departing star-striker Callum Chambers ahead of Slimbridge clash

While Thornbury Town manager Richard Joyce is disappointed to lose star striker Callum Chambers, he also sees the positives in players moving up the football pyramid.

Southern Premier Division One South team Larkhall Athletic signed Chambers last month, who scored 17 goals in 28 games. It is quite a tally to lose at any level, but Joyce is happy he did not immediately leave the club behind, but waited for the right opportunity.

After scoring 18 goals in 27 games, Callum Chalmers has transferred to Southern League side @LarkhallAFC.

He is the 7th player to make the move up to a step 4 side from Thornbury in the last 3 years & remains dual-registered with us.https://t.co/PLBorZLl7V

📸 Brian Rossiter pic.twitter.com/UmjPKEvYPS

— Thornbury Town FC (@thornburytownfc) January 23, 2025

“All season, we’ve had interest in him. But Callum stayed really loyal because he was enjoying his football so much, turned down probably seven, eight, nine clubs,” Joyce began.

“We then had a club from the Southern League approach for him, but that club’s not in a particularly good place, so he turned down the chance to go up a league.

“But then when Larkhall came in for him and the money they were able to offer him, the setup they’ve got there and the chance to go up a league, it was one where he felt he had to take it.”

The Thorns currently sit in 16th on the table and 15 points from the relegation zone in the Hellenic Premier League, as their key player progressed up the ranks.

“We’re delighted to see them move up to the next league because that’s great for them as individuals. It’s great for us as a club. It shows we’re doing the right things.

“The more players we move through, the more we can use that as an example to those exciting young players who are playing one, two, three leagues below and say, ‘Look, we brought this player in from two leagues below. He did this for us and ended up getting a move to this club. And now he’s earning good money and playing at an even higher level’. We have to use it as an opportunity to showcase our players.”

One key players who Joyce predicts to have a great career ahead of him is youngster Sam Moseley, who joined from Bristol Rovers last summer. “He’s been absolutely outstanding. I hope he keeps playing with us for a while because I think it’ll help him to play week in, week out for us and get loads of minutes and all the experience he’s getting.

“It is incredible to see someone who literally just turned 17, seeing them that dominant on a football pitch, leading a group, having the character he’s got. I think we’ve got a platform at Thornbury to give him the amount to develop him as much as possible.”

Thornbury are hoping to break their highest ever points-tally in a season, 38, from the 2021-22 season. The team already surpassed their total of 29 points from the previous campaign, and are just nine points short of completing their goal with 10 games to go.

The team will therefore continue to be ambitious, Joyce assured ahead of their fixture on Tuesday night against Slimbridge. “It’d be great to win games by narrow score lines and win them with clean sheets and we have been involved in a significant amount of narrow score lines this season.

“It’s really important probably for us to be on the front foot and probably just try and get up the pitch as much as possible.”

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