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- Burton Mail

11th November 1988
Tracey Norton the latest ace to be shuffled from ever ready Gresley chief Frank Northwood’s considerable pack of soccer talent, is aiming to make it third time lucky at the Moat Ground this term.

Twice in consecutive seasons the 24-year-old striker suffered the agony of finishing one place off the title with Oldbury United.

Now, though, the goalgrabber who makes a living by balancing the books as an accountant is confident a different tally-of goals- will add up to a successful championship tilt for the pride of South Derbyshire.

And he believes Rovers’ loyal army of fans could make all the difference.

“It’s brilliant at Gresley,” said Norton after scoring the 89th minute goal that took the Moatmen to the top of the Banks’s League on Saturday.

“At Oldbury we were lucky if we got 100 at most games. But when you’ve got 300 fans shouting you on at the Moat Ground they make you keep going right to the end – just like we did today.”

Before his vital goal against Oldbury the highly rated Norton had not exactly torn up any trees since his move from the Black Country.

But now he believes his soccer career is taking an upturn after a chequered history that began with hopes of a full time career with Aston Villa and led to some of the top non-league outfits in the West Midlands.

“I didn’t leave school until I was 18 and went down the Villa when I was 19,” Norton recounts. “I had six months there then moved to Walsall where I thought I did well. I was getting a few goals in the reserves and looking for the chance to break into the first team.

“Then Alan Buckley, who was manager at the time, signed Kevin Summerfield, an experienced striker from Birmingham. Buckley called me into his office one day and told me that the club couldn’t afford to keep me on. He offered me the chance to stay as a non-contract player but I decided to go out and find myself a career elsewhere.”

The move took Norton into accountancy, but meanwhile his goalscoring talents went on display at Harrisons, Worcester City and Willenhall before he found his feet at Oldbury, establishing a reputation as one of the deadliest marksmen in the Banks’s League.

Yet Norton believes the move to South Derbyshire could be his best yet.

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