Why AFC Fylde extended Nick Haughton's contract

David Haythornthwaite has explained why AFC Fylde felt compelled to offer Nick Haughton a new contract when they’re unable to hand out fresh deals elsewhere due to financial constraints.
AFC Fylde's Nick HaughtonAFC Fylde's Nick Haughton
AFC Fylde's Nick Haughton

The 25-year-old penned a contract extension in May to keep him at Mill Farm until the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

That caused some confusion among supporters given the club isn’t offering contracts to any of Haughton’s teammates.

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“Some fans have asked why we extended Nick’s contract when we’re getting rid of others. The answer to that is very simple,” Haythornthwaite explained in his latest video for the club website.

“In my opinion, Nick is our most talented player. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s our best player but he certainly could be our best and most talented player, depending on opinion.

“We also paid Salford £40,000 for Nick and when you pay a lot of money like that you have to protect your asset.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in him as well from a couple of clubs at the end of the season.

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“There’s no doubt Jim (Bentley, manager) was getting the best out of Nick and we were beginning to see him perform consistently.

“Before that he might have been a 40-minute player or a 60-minute player but I thought he was starting to play really, really well. I felt he needed a run in the team to give him the confidence.

“But that’s why we protected ourselves and the same would have been the case for Tom Walker had he been out of contract.

“We paid Salford a lot of money for Tom, so you have to protect your assets. It might not appear to make sense but you’ve got to do it.

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“It may seem at odds with what we’re saying about players’ contracts, but I hope people understand that.”

It comes as Haythornthwaite announced Danny Philliskirk, Mark Yeates, Luke Burke, James Craigen, Tom Miller and Dan Lavercombe all look set to leave, with Lewis Montrose having already agreed to join Kidderminster Harriers.

“The players have got a really difficult situation now where they have to try and find a new club,” Haythornthwaite said of Fylde’s out-of-contract players.

“In the case of Lewis, it sounds like he has done. In the case of Danny, he might get something sorted as well.

“With Danny, if we could have got something sorted he’d have been on our retained list but we can’t do something where he wants to be at this time.”