Aldershot Town have signed 24 year-old former Barnet defender Jack Saville on a one year contract from 1 July.
Born in Camberley, Saville – who can play at either centre-back or left-back – made 26 appearances for The Bees last season as they won the Vanarama Conference title.
He is a graduate of the Reading and Chelsea youth academies and subsequently turned professional with Southampton in 2009, at the age of 18. His senior debut, though, came with Barnet in November 2011, in a loan move which was soon made permanent. In four seasons with The Bees, 6ft 3 Saville made 81 appearances, plus a further 16 in loan spells at Hayes and Yeading and Ebbsfleet United.
“Aldershot Town are a big club in this division and I want to push on and try to make the Play-Offs,” said Saville. “I played a lot at Barnet last year but as a 24 year-old I need to play a full season and the chance to kick-on with Aldershot Town is a good opportunity for me. I’m really pleased to be here.
“Left-sided centre-half is my main position,” he admitted, “but I can play left-back and holding midfield, and I think I was sub goalkeeper for Barnet once last season, so I can play anywhere really! I’m good in the air and good at playing out from the back as well, which is what Barry wants me to do and it’s another reason why I signed here. It’s very attractive for a young player who wants to push on in his career – he doesn’t want to just hoof the ball forward, and to improve as a footballer you’ve got to do the right things.”
“We want our defenders to play, but first and foremost he’s got to be a defender,” agreed manager Barry Smith. “I know I’m getting a good defender in Jack, and he’s played a lot of games with Barnet so he comes with a good pedigree. Hopefully that winning mentality will rub off on other players here – he knows what it takes to get to that level and that will help the team.”
