He may turn 49 in August, but there is every chance that new boss Jamie Cureton will turn out as a player for Cambridge City next season.
Centre-forward Cureton has continued to play since dropping out of the professional game in 2016 – even when he has managed the likes of Enfield and Bishop’s Stortford.
That theme continued last term as part of the coaching team at Pitching Isthmian League North Division side Maldon & Tiptree, for whom he featured on two occasions towards the back end of the campaign.
And Cureton will have no qualms about lacing up his boots to play for City, although he only intends to do so if required – rather than seeing himself as an automatic starter.
“I’ll be signing on. I played a lot in my first year or two when I was managing Enfield,” said the striker that has made more than 1,000 appearances across a career that has spanned both the professional and non-league game.
“That was more because it was needed and I was doing a good job scoring goals.
“As the squad evolved and we got more players in, I took a back seat and let the players play.
“I still played when I was needed, but then my owner said he didn’t want me to play. It was a bit disappointing because I felt like I could still do a job if someone needed a rest or we had injuries.
“Then when I went to Maldon I signed on, played when I was needed and did OK.
“I’ll sign on here because I know in non-league if you run with a smaller squad, you get injuries and on Tuesday nights sometimes people can’t get there.
“I hate having to put out a teamsheet when it doesn’t have the right amount of substitutes and in things like cup games, if we need to rotate and I’m available, it makes life easier.
“I won’t be signing on to say that I’m going to play every week, it will be more about helping out if I’m needed.
“If I don’t feel like I could do it then I wouldn’t – I don’t want to embarrass myself or the club.”
