Four new Magpies

Last updated : 16 June 2006 By Rob Davies
Free agents Lee and defender Matt Somner are now both Notts County players, having signed two-year deals.

Striker Lawrie Dudfield and centre back Alan White have also agreed 12-month deals, that they will sign on the 1st July, when their contracts with their current clubs will expire.

Youth-team defender Bobby Wilson has also signed professional terms with the club. The highly-rated 17-year-old has signed a two-year deal.

Now 35, Lee is an instantly recognisable figure following his spell over the River in the mid 90's.

New boy
Then a top-flight player, the striker became infamous to the nation following his constant ridiculing on Baddiel & Skinner's Fantasy Football.

He has since gone on to carve-out a career in the lower leagues, with Notts becoming his 13th professional club.

The giant frontman had agreed a deal with Conference outfit Aldershot following his release from Northampton Town, but a small compensation figure paid by the Magpies has allowed him to join-up with Thompson, who he played under at Lincoln earlier in his career.

Lee almost joined Notts in January, but wasn't given the 18-month deal he desired. This time though, Notts were happy to hand the 35-year-old a two-year deal.

23-year-old Somner is another player who has previously worked under Thompson, having been part of the Cambridge side that was relegated to the Conference in 2005.

The defender has since been playing with Aldershot, but was keen on a move back to the Football League.

White, meanwhile, is arguably the most highly-rated of the quartet, having turned-down the offer of a new deal with Boston Utd.

The 30-year-old defender carries a strong reputation in the lower leagues and has also played for Luton, Colchester and Leyton Orient.

Dudfield is the third new signing to join from Boston, having spent the previous season with Steve Evans' League Two side.

The 26-year-old striker was snapped-up by Leicester City as an 18-year-old, but went on to join Hull City having made just two appearences for the Foxes.

He has since failed to settle anywhere, having spells with Northampton Town and Southend Utd, as well as previous loan stints with Chesterfield and Lincoln City.

The London-born marksman has netted a total of 44 career goals.

Wilson, meanwhile, becomes the second scholar to sign professional terms, following fellow-defender Tommy Hannigan, who penned a six-month deal earlier this summer.

Though yet to make a first-team appearence, the defender is highly-rated at Meadow Lane and, along with Stef Frost - who made five substitute appearences at the end of last term - is rated as the best prospect of the club's YTS system.

The 17-year-old was voted the Youth Team's player of the year for last season, the last ever player to receive such an award.

Should White and Dudfield sign the new deals as agreed, Notts now have 12 new players under contract for the upcoming campaign.



For an in-depth look at all of Notts' new players, be sure to stay tuned to NCM over the weekend.