Darlington’s new signing Josh Gillies is hoping to return to full time football with the club.

Darlington manager Martin Gray swopped to sign the 26 year old Sunderland born attacker earlier in the week, and he’ll become a big part of the plans this season as MG plots the fourth promotion in five seasons.

“I wanted to stay in full time football, but having to go part time isn’t a massive thing for me,” said Josh. “Darlington have got loads of potential and are desperate to go back to the Football League. They want to go full time again, and hopefully that will suit me.

“Things happened at Gateshead during the summer. I was offered a new deal, but the club and I couldn’t agree. The summer went on, the start of the new season got closer and I was still without a club. I then had a phone call from Martin and I was happy with everything he said.

“The club is going in the right direction, it wants to be back in the Football League, and I want to help it get there.

“The fan base is massive. Since the announcement that I had signed, I’ve had another 150 followers on Twitter, and the number is still going up! It shows how much the fans care about the club.”

Earlier in his career, Josh played and scored at Wembley for Northern League Whitley Bay in the FA Vase final against Wroxham, a 6-1 romp.

“I came on as a sub when we were 4-1 up, and I scored a goal. The game was just about all over when I went on, it was a very one-sided game after we scored in the first minute. I think scoring at Wembley and collecting a winner’s medal was the highlight of my football career so far.”

After his spell at Whitley Bay, he moved into full time football at Gateshead, and in his third season at the International Stadium, he was the Heed’s top scorer with 15 goals in 45 league matches.

“I had a great season, and then I went to Carlisle, but it didn’t work out there. So I came back to Gateshead, and did ok, but then I was out for four months which kind of halted me. Now, I’m hoping that I’ll have an injury-free season and score a few goals.”

Phil Turnbull is a former Gateshead team mate of Josh, and he said on Twitter “What a player we have on our hands here.”