The Harwich and Parkeston first team begin their pre-season friendlies this Friday with a home game against Coggeshall Town (kick-off 7.45pm).
The Seedgrowers play in Division One South of the Eastern Counites League – a level below the Shrimpers – but finished third last season before losing in the play-off semi-finals.
Managers Matt Carmichael and Sean Tynan will start to shape their side ahead of the Essex Senior League campaign, which is due to start against Hutton – the team that won Coggeshall’s division - on the weekend of August 1.
New signing Sam Felgate is set to play in goal, while many of last season’s squad, which finished 13th in the club’s inaugural ESL campaign, have already signed up for 2026/27.
Those announced so far are Louie Bloom, Alfie Canning, Jenson Goode, Oakley McNair, Alfie Eldridge, Charlie Canham, Zac Pedro, Jack Cosby, Gareth Heath, Tyler Sullivan, Liam White, Tom Watkins and Tiwa Odufuye. Most will be involved on Friday.
One player is confirmed as having departed – Luke Mayhew has joined Little Oakley.
Matt said: “We have had a really positive start to pre-season and both myself and Sean are really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces return and also some hopefully new players joining.
“There’s the notable return of Sam Felgate. Once we knew was looking for Step 5 football, we made sure we were on his radar, especially with uncertainty surrounding last year’s goalkeeper (Brad Cook). We knew we needed to react fast.”
He added: “Hopefully we can build on last year’s positive league position. We know we can't compete financially with many teams in the ESL but we are confident we have the quality to match them on the pitch.”
Fans curious to see any new faces and exactly how the team is shaping up are welcome at the Gwinnell and Sons Royal Oak on Friday.
Entry will be £5 for adults, £3 for concessions with no charge for under-16s.

1st XI’s full pre-season schedule:
Friday July 3 – Coggeshall Town (H), 7.45pm
Saturday July 11 – Clacton Town (H), 3pm
Tuesday July 14 – Hadleigh United (H), 7.45pm
Saturday July 18 – Brantham Athletic (H), 3pm
Tuesday July 21 – Brightlingsea Regent (H), 7.45pm
Saturday July 25 – Ransomes Sports (H), 3pm