RUGBY Town have announced four pre-season friendlies as the club prepare for a return to Step Five in 2025/26.
New Valley boss Grant Joshua hopes to put his squad through a testing pre-season schedule.
Rugby begin pre-season with a trip to Step Three Stratford Town on Tuesday, July 8 with kick-off at 7.45pm at the Arden Garages Stadium.
Valley then travel to former Northern Premier League Midlands opponents Darlaston Town and Sutton Coldfield Town.
Town’s first home game sees Step Three Alvechurch head to Butlin Road on Saturday, July 19 with kick-off at 3pm.
Joshua said: “Of course it would have been nice to have got a reprieve, but we have always said that our plans wouldn’t be any different wherever we were placed.
“The aim is to be Step Four ready straight away, and we know that we have a very important pre-season ahead of us.
“We’re due back in training on June 24 and we know that we need to hit the ground running from the off – both literally and figuratively.”
Rugby’s United Counties League Premier Division South campaign could begin as early as July 26 with the FA Cup Preliminary Round likely to take place the following weekend.
And Joshua admits he has already begun shaping his squad for next season.
Joshua added: “We had meetings with players last week and a number more are planned for this week.
“We have made some offers and these will be confirmed as soon as they are agreed, but I’m really pleased with the calibre of player that we are attracting and also encouraged by the initial discussions that we have had with some of last season’s squad too.”
