by Pablo Woolls-Blanco

Mousehole have completed their fourth signing of the summer, securing the services of versatile Wing Back Ryan Barrett. The 22-year-old was at Newcastle United for 10 years, making it all the way to their Under-23 side, before brief spells at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and National League side Blyth Spartans.

Barrett also has Welsh international honours at Under-16 and Under-17 level, becoming Mousehole’s second Welsh signing in a week, after Morgan Lewis’ addition last Saturday.

Barrett brings Mousehole’s summer business to four key signings, as preparations for a historic first season in the Southern League continue for Jake Ash’s side.

Explaining his reasons for moving from the north-east to the south-west, Barrett commented:

“To be honest I had a few conversations with Fletch and Jake and had a really good feeling about it. I needed to get somewhere where I was going to be playing good football. When I heard about Mousehole, I just went for it, so I couldn’t be happier to be here.”

Barrett was present at Mousehole’s Tuesday night fixture against Exeter City at Trungle Parc, and shared his first impressions of his new home:

“It was lovely. It was a nice surprise. It was rammed and the support was fantastic. I was really impressed with the lads, it was great!”

Speaking before his first training session with the club and ahead of his debut against National League side Dorking Wanderers on Saturday:

“I can’t wait. It’s been a few months since I’ve played regular football. I’m just looking to get started as soon as I can – I’m really looking forward to it.”

Manager Jake Ash commented on his delight at securing the services of Barrett:

“We’ve been really fortunate to get Ryan on board. I started talking to him earlier in the summer and he was looking for a new challenge and somewhere he could get a regular run of games after things being a bit ‘stop-start’ after his time at Newcastle.”

On what he believes Barrett can bring to the Mousehole squad:

“Given his background, he obviously has a fantastic pedigree. He has real quality on the ball and I think because of that he will be able to play in a variety of positions for us.”

After Barrett completed his first training session with the group on Thursday night, Ash spoke on the defender’s qualities:

“It’s clear already from training that he has a fantastic character and presence which will be so important for what is still a young group. I’m really excited to add all of Ryan’s qualities to the core we have.”

Watch some of the moments from around Trungle Parc – with the thoughts of Max Hill and Jake Ash – as Mousehole went down 8-0 to an impressive League 1 Exeter City.

Match reporter: Pablo Woolls-Blanco

Mousehole hit the ground running with a 3-0 win over Hayle in the first of their six pre-season friendlies. Watch the goals and Jake’s post-match reaction here:

Ahead of our pre-season friendly matches this week against Hayle, Exeter City and Dorking Wanderers, Pablo Woolls-Blanco met up with Jake Ash to chat over preparations.

The Mousehole first team squad have been finding out exactly what Cristiano Ronaldo does before his free kicks as they prepare for life in the Southern League this coming season. Jamie Clements, a breathwork coach from London, took the boys through two sessions where they learnt how to control their breathing and use it to focus on stress management, match preparation and wind-down.

Big thanks to Bedruthan Hotel for putting on the session for us and to Jamie of https://www.thebreathspace.co.uk for leading it.

Watch the video here:

As we look forward to the first home pre-season friendly against Exeter City, Pablo Woolls-Blanco went up to their training ground to have a chat with assistant manager Kevin Nicholson.

An audio documentary on a mysterious and relatively obscure piece of Cornish football history, the day when Manchester United travelled to Mousehole.

We’ll be finding out why it happened, how it came to be, what happened on the pitch and the final score, in a classic David and Goliath situation. 

We thought we were a pretty good team at the time, but they were a different level

Peter Robinson, Mousehole AFC player

This podcast episode was produced by Callum Walker, a student of journalism and creative writing at Falmouth University. It formed part of his final year mini documentary project.

Occasional use of strong language in this superb and informative get-together with Marc White from @DorkingWDRS as he talks about the upcoming trip way out west to Trungle Parc.

Dorking Wanderers are coming down to West Cornwall on July 15th for the second of our home pre-season friendlies. Make sure you don’t miss out – tickets are on sale here: https://ticketpass.org/o/972346985/mousehole-afc/events

The defender returns to the club he played for until 2017 – and joins his sister who plays for Mousehole Women.

by Pablo Woolls-Blanco

Mousehole have completed their second signing of the summer, securing the services of defender Josh Storey from Helston Athletic.

The 21-year-old comes off the back of a season where he captained Helston to a Cornwall Senior Cup and Les Phillips Cup double in dramatic fashion and will now be eager to join up with Jake Ash’s team in July, where a pre-season line-up features the likes of Exeter City and Dorking Wanderers.

Storey, similar to recent signing Tim Nixon, is another player who has Mousehole roots. Indeed, the defender played for the Seagulls in 2017, and has a sister playing for Mousehole Women.

“I’m quite vocal on the pitch – I keep people motivated on and off the pitch, at training as well. I can get people going when they’re down in the mud a bit.

Josh Storey, speaking to Pablo Woolls-Blanco

We spoke to Josh about becoming a new Mousehole player:

“I’m buzzing to be fair. I’m looking forward to the new challenge, obviously Step Four football. Also looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces so it’s an exciting time!”

On leaving Helston as club captain:

“It was a really hard decision. It took a lot of thought and talking to a lot of people close to me about what was best for me going forward. It was a tough decision for me to make, but I think I’ve made the right one.”

On his qualities as a leader and defender:

“I’m quite vocal on the pitch – I keep people motivated on and off the pitch, at training as well. I can get people going when they’re down in the mud a bit.

I’m a fairly aggressive defender. I’ve got that ball-playing instinct as well, which I think will suit Mousehole with the way Jake Ash wants to play. I’m good in the air and in the tackle, but also got that composure with the ball at my feet.”

When you speak to him you can hear the genuine affinity he has for the club.

Jake Ash, First Team manager

On his excitement at facing the likes of Exeter City and Dorking Wanderers in pre-season:

“I think those games are massive for the club. There will be a good crowd down at Trungle and it will be a really good test for us in pre-season, against even higher-level opposition.”

Mousehole manager Jake Ash did not hide his excitement at Storey’s addition to the Seagulls’ back line:

“It’s probably no secret that we’ve been long-term admirers of Josh. He ticks so many boxes of what we could want in a player; it’s the club he played his first senior football at, he has a real feel and family bond with the club (his sister plays for the women’s team) and he lives on our doorstep. When you speak to him you can hear the genuine affinity he has for the club.

At 21 he is a brilliant age to still improve in so many aspects and has said how keen he is to develop aspects of his game here. We love that – that hunger in a player is such a bit of me.”

Ash continued:

“With his teacher training next year based in West Cornwall and now his football closer to home – especially the training bit which is so important to him – it works for him and we are obviously really pleased with that.”

Head of Football Adam Fletcher shares similar optimism about Storey’s arrival:

“Josh is a player I personally remember from my Ludgvan days, and it will always stick with me when he came and trained as a 15-year-old how much of an impact he had on the session. He showed leadership qualities at such a young age around an older group – a characteristic that he has taken into his senior football.

He’s someone we have admired as a player for some time now and it’s really pleasing to add another local talent to the squad.

Josh has defensive qualities we look for and I know the coaching team are really looking forward to working with him and pushing him on to new levels this season.”