Rob Eagle will fulfil one of his footballing ambitions next season when he pulls on the blue shirt of Leiston.

Born in the town, the 30-year-old midfielder has signed a two-year deal at Victory Road, having joined from relegated AFC Sudbury.

The former Lowestoft Town man, who had spells as a professional with Grimsby Town, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Norwich City, said: “I am really happy to have joined and I always said when I started playing that I wanted to end my career at Leiston.

“I learned a lot from Jamie Godbold and Andy Reynolds at Sudbury last season, but unfortunately we were relegated and I did not fancy dropping down to the Isthmian North at this stage of my career.

“I am hitting 30 and while I am not at the end of my career, I am on that pathway and I hope to do the best I can for my hometown club over the next two or three years.”

Eagle will be hoping he can have a better time on the pitch this season, having gone down with Sudbury, not that he has any regrets over signing for the Yellows.

“I enjoyed my time there, obviously the football did not go very well and we were relegated but personally, I think Jamie did the best he could with the players he got in at the time,” Eagle added.

Sudbury finished seven points adrift of safety by the end of the season, while Leiston, following a scintillating start to the season, missed out on a play-off place by just two points.

“There were so many games last season we (Sudbury) could have won and we ended up drawing, while there were others where we lost and we could have easily won them,” Eagle reflected.

“The league is tough and Leiston went close. Hopefully this season we’ll have a stronger squad and can make the play-offs.”

Meanwhile, Matt Blake won several awards at the club’s end-of-season presentation, including the Players Player of the Year, Manager’s Player, Leading scorer, Programme Editor’s award, with Jack Ainsley, and the Committee Player and Vice President’s Player of the Year.

The Isthmian League Golden Boot winner also claimed the most man-of-the-Match awards.