JAMIE Hoyland was just a matter of miles away from Shrewsbury when the offer of a two-year contract combining playing with some coaching prompted a dramatic U-turn and a move to Third Division rivals Scarborough instead.

Hoyland was on his way to sign a 12-month deal with the Shrews when he was told that Seasiders boss Mick Wadsworth would be contacting him. Phone calls continued through the day before Hoyland turned his car around at Market Drayton in Shropshire to take up the offer from the side that lost in the Third Division play-offs last season.

"I rang the PFA and they said turn around" revealed Hoyland.

"It came out of the blue but it was for two years and Mick Wadsworth was pushing the coaching which is what I have wanted to do all summer."

Hoyland, who links up with former Burnley team mate Liam Robinson at the McCain Stadium, will have a key role to play with Scarborough, who have lost player coach Gary Bennett and are also set to be without Ian Snodin who is poised to become Doncaster Rovers new player-manager.

And the 32-year-old defender, who left Turf Moor this summer after turning down a 12 month contract offer, wasted no time in getting to know his new team mates as he played in a four-team tournament at York City over the weekend.

Hoyland helped the Seasiders beat Barnsley Reserves and then scored one of the penalties, his first in something like eight years, that accounted for Airdrie and gave Scarborough victory in the competition.

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