Ryan Mackenzie

Welling United’s first summer signing jumped at the chance to move to Park View Road.

Full-back Stefan Wright has joined the Wings from fellow Isthmian Premier club Whitehawk.

He offers all the qualities manager Ryan Maxwell was looking for, and the deal was done in no time.

“He’s a right-back or left-back, he’s extremely tenacious, super-fit, quick, and also has an enormous throw, giving us another tool to utilise,” said Maxwell.

“He’s also a south London boy and he was absolutely over the moon about potentially joining Welling.

“The conversation was a very short one, he was just delighted to put pen to paper and I think we’re going to see a guy who really loves representing the football club.

“That’s important because I want players who respect and love playing for Welling and he’s certainly going to be one.

“He’s a very infectious character, with loads of energy, and also he’s experienced but still youthful with it in his style of play, which is great.

“We can utilise his fitness levels and that can be in an attacking sense, where he ends up putting crosses in and overlapping and underlapping wingers, and I also love the rawness of his defending.

“It’s personal to him, it’s between him and the winger. He loves the combative side of the game.”

Maxwell believes he may have the best goalkeeper in the league after Mackenzie Foley agreed terms to remain at Welling.

Foley proved a revelation after joining mid-season from Tonbridge.

“He’s a fantastic goalkeeper,” said Maxwell. “I think he’s absolutely brilliant.

“I haven’t seen a better one in this division. I’m delighted he’s here because he’s not just a great keeper but a great lad and he’s grown since he’s been here.

“The consistency levels were tremendous, he’s even got a few assists because his strike of a ball is so good, and he’s a brilliant cross-taker, which is difficult to find.

“Shot-stoppers, they’re 10 a penny, but distribution and cross-taking on top of that makes him an excellent goalkeeper.

“He manages the box well, he relieves pressure, he gives the back four confidence, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does this year.

“It’s a vital position because you can play well and dominate a game but if you’ve got an incompetent goalkeeper, all that can be completely undone by one shot, so they’re so important and so hard to come by.”

Top scorer John Ufuah, one of just a couple of survivors from the squad Maxwell inherited last November, is also on board for next season.

The former Chatham man is a major asset for Maxwell.

“He’s one of the quickest players in the division,” said the manager.

“I’m going to adapt his game a little bit, which he’s very open to.

“He’s a tremendous athlete, super-quick and super-fit, and when you get somebody who can do both, you’ve got a very good acquisition.

“To top that, he’s also a tremendous lad, really humble and honest, and what we’re going to look at this year is getting more numbers for him in terms of goals.

“I want John to hit the 12/13/14-goal mark. He got seven last season but that was in a team that were struggling until we formulated what we had and settled our squad, and only then was he in what I would call a very good side.”

Veteran defender Chris Arthur is also back for more after an impressive campaign.

Maxwell previously worked with the former Northampton centre-half at Sittingbourne and made him his first signing at Park View Road.

“This will be our fourth season together,” said Maxwell.

“He’s been a warrior for me. He was pivotal in our success at Sittingbourne.

“He comes with experience, he played at Northampton, he’s left-footed, strong as an ox, and goes to war for me every week.

“He’s a fantastic human being. He didn’t want to hear about any other club. He just wanted to know if we wanted him again which, of course, we did.

“He loves playing for us and we love managing him. He’s really helped the upturn at Welling both with his performances and his character.

“He’s in his mid-30s but he looks after his body extremely well, he’s a super professional and I’m delighted he’s going to continue playing with us.”