Back
PLAYER UPDATE - Hayward and Newall arrive to bolster squad
We have added midfield man NATHAN HAYWARD and teenage striker JACK NEWALL to our squad with the latter joining on a month's loan.
NATHAN HAYWARD (pictured) has arrived from Worcester City for a third stint at the War Memorial Athletic Ground. The veteran midfielder has had two previous short stints with the club making 15 appearances (14 + 1 sub) and scoring three times in our colours before his latest return prior to last Saturday’s match at Harborough Town.
The 34-year-old began his career as a trainee at Birmingham City before linking up with the Kidderminster Harriers youth team. Some fine displays led to him being called up into the first team during the 2008-09 season and he made 14 senior appearances before being loaned to Redditch United towards the end of the 2009-10 campaign.
After being released, he began 2010-11 with Malvern Town before moving on later that season to Stourport Swifts. Subsequent spells then followed at Littleton and Westfields. He started the 2014-15 campaign with Littleton before signing for Bromyard Town in November 2014, but he re-joined Littleton early in 2015 prior to linking up with us in July 2015. He featured in our pre-season matches before coming on as a substitute in our opening day loss at Whitby Town in the NPL Premier for his one and only competitive appearance before leaving due to personal circumstances.
The competitive and busy midfield man later became a key player back at Malvern Town before signing for his hometown club Worcester City in the MFL Premier Division in the summer of 2017. A year later he moved up a level to sign for Bromsgrove Sporting ahead of the 2018-19 campaign and he was a key performer as Bromsgrove Sporting won the Southern League Division One Central play-offs to gain promotion to step 3.
He signed for us for a second time late in December 2019 during Ian Long’s time at the helm, making his 'second debut' in a win at Biggleswade Town. He was a regular starter in the side making 14 appearances before the 2019-20 season was brought to an early finish by the covid pandemic outbreak in March 2020.
He opted to return to Bromsgrove Sporting in June 2020 before moving on two years later to Halesowen Town ahead of the 2022-23 season. He spent two seasons at the Grove before making the move back to Worcester City in the summer of 2024. He won promotion to step 3 via the NPL Division 1 Midlands play-offs with both Halesowen in 2023 and Worcester City in 2025. He had continued to feature regularly for Worcester this season prior to his departure in late January 2026.
JACK NEWALL is a promising teenage striker who has joined us on an initial one-month loan from Burton Albion. He made his professional debut for the Brewers last season in a 5-2 win over Northampton Town in the EFL Trophy. His league debut came on the final day of the season, against Charlton Athletic at the Valley. He also enjoyed work experience loans with Carlton Town in August 2024 and Bromsgrove Sporting from October 2024, scoring twice in 17 matches for the Worcestershire side. He then helped the Burton Albion Academy reach their first Birmingham Senior Cup Final since 2008. Over the summer of 2025, he signed his first professional contract with the club and was officially promoted to the first team. This season he has made 14 appearances in the first team across Sky Bet League One, the Emirates FA Cup, the Vertu EFL Trophy, and the Carabao Cup.