HE MAY have been a man in demand but Lewis Haldane says that choosing the club where he expected to enjoy himself the most was driving force behind his move to Frome Town.

The former Bristol Rovers and Port Vale man, who was forced out of the professional game by injury in October 2012, opted to join his close friend Ricky Hulbert at Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division Frome late last week, making his debut in the Robins’ 4-0 loss to Redditch United last weekend.

Haldane, who enjoyed a stunning introduction to non-league football as he hit 31 goals in all competitions for Division One West Yate last term, turned down an approach from Chippenham Town, as well as the likes of Paulton Rovers, Hungerford Town and Conference South Weston-super-Mare before opting to link up with Adrian Foster’s Frome.

And despite watching his new club lose 3-1 at Chippenham in the FA Trophy earlier this month, the 29-year-old, who broke into the pro game in 2002 when he was snapped up by Bristol Rovers after starring for Trowbridge Town at the age of 17, thinks that he’s made the right decision.

“For me, it was all about going somewhere where I was going to enjoy my football and I wanted to go and play with Ricky because he’s one of my best mates. I originally joined Yate because he was there,” said Haldane, who found the net nine times for Yate this season before his move to Frome.

“I enjoyed playing for Yate and did really well, scoring a lot of goals, but I fell out with the management a bit and felt like I needed a change.

“For me, it was important that I didn’t go somewhere where I’d have to drive one-and-a-half hours to training three times a week because I want to be able to see my family and things like that. Frome is only five minutes up the road from Trowbridge.

“I spoke to Fozzy and he’s been there and done it as a professional footballer so he knows what he’s talking about.

“I remember Paul Thorpe from when I used to go and watch Trowbridge with my parents when they were in the Conference. They don’t make centre-backs like him anymore and he actually used to coach me for a team called Trowbridge Hornets when I was six or seven-years-old but I don’t think he’ll remember that.

“I know Frome are struggling but hopefully I can score goals there, just like I did at Yate, and help get them away from the relegation mix.”

Frome manager Foster is hoping that the signings of Haldane and fellow striker Omar Simpson from Chippenham can help kick-start his side’s season.

“Omar wasn’t starting a game at Chippenham so he’s come over and hopefully Lewis will score a lot of goals for us – hopefully, they can have an impact on us,” said the Robins boss.

“It has been difficult because I’ve just not been able to pick all my players but the players that are playing when we’ve got people missing have to try and pick up some points – we have to try and win games just to keep in touch with other teams because we’re miles away.

“Things will get better for us and I just hope that our season starts now. We did really well last year and now we’ve got an even better side.”

After Wednesday night’s Somerset Premier Cup trip to Toolstation League Wellington was rained off, Mark Cooper, Jon Vance, Kris Miller and Josh Klein-Davies will all be suspended for tomorrow’s game at Cirencester Town.

MORE SPORTS NEWS, PICTURES AND REACTION IN THIS FRIDAY’S WILTSHIRE TIMES. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @WTSport