AFC Fylde name Nathan Pond as club captain

The former Fleetwood Town man arrived at the club during the summer following his departure from Sky Bet League Two side, Salford City.

The centre-back holds Fleetwood’s appearance record and won six promotions over 15 years at Highbury as Town climbed from the North West Counties League to League One of the EFL.

The Montserrat international made 163 League appearances for Town before spending the past two seasons at Salford City.

Pond made 72 appearances for the Ammies, adding yet another promotion to his CV by playing in the National League play-off final win over Fylde in May last year. He played nine times for Salford in League Two last season.

Having amassed a world record-breaking seven promotions, the defender will now be looking to lead the Coasters to another in the National League North.

Manager Jim Bentley told the club website: “Nathan is a natural leader who has been there and done it. He’s been captain before at his previous clubs and has a fantastic record of being successful.

“He is a great professional and has the respect of everyone at the club.”

After arriving at Mill Farm in the summer, Pond told the club of his leadership skills.

He said: “It’s probably one of the reasons the manager wanted me as well, it’s important to have leadership not just on the pitch but off it as well and I feel I can bring that.

“There will be a few lads that will be down as they’re now going to be playing at a level they didn’t want to be playing at, but we all need to stick together and work hard to get back where we want to be.”