CLAYTON Fortune is trying to fall back in love with football at Hardenhuish Park after joining a club he believes is on the up.

The former Bristol City man left Aldershot Town in the summer of 2011 but missed the whole of the subsequent season before returning with Mangotsfield United and featuring against the Bluebirds in the FA Cup last month.

The defender has now stepped up a division to the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division with Chippenham and revealed that boss Nathan Rudge was interested in his services at the beginning of pre-season.

“I spoke to Rudgey a little bit in the summer and he said that he’d tried to speak to me a little earlier on but we never managed to get in contact,” said Fortune, who has also had spells at Port Vale and Weston-super-Mare.

“I ended up signing for Mangtosfield and playing here. The next thing I knew, seven days got put in for me and I was here to speak to them.

“I got a little bit fed up with football at one point. I was travelling to Aldershot every day from Bristol and with a young child, it took its toll on me.

“I went to the Mangoes because it was literally on my doorstep and I wanted to play football again and ease my way back in. There were a few younger lads around me that I wanted to try and pass a little bit of knowledge on to.

“I knew a few of the players here like Phillo (Lee Phillips), Dean Griffiths, Harvs (Iain Harvey) and Scotty Rogers and I thought that they were a good bunch of lads that could go on to do something this season. I wanted to be a part of it.

“For the last three or four years, I wasn’t really enjoying it, so it’s just about trying to do that again and hopefully being in a team that’s going to do something.”

Shaun Lamb’s second spell at Chippenham Town has come to an end after he joined Mangotsfield United this week.

The left-back rejoined the Bluebirds last summer after ending last season at Western League Bitton but with the arrival of Tyrone Mings last month, the 25-year-old found himself surplus to requirements at Hardenhuish Park.

CHIPPENHAM TOWN NEWS AND PICTURES IN THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD AND FRIDAY'S WILTSHIRE TIMES AND MATCH UPDATES US ON TWITTER @gazsport and @WTSport.