League Two Oldham Athletic have won the race to sign AFC Fylde's wantaway striker Danny Rowe for an undisclosed fee.
AFC Fylde's all-time leading scorer with 192 goals in 293 appearances, pictured, agreed an 18-month contract with the Latics on Thursday night, a week after asking to leave in January's transfer window.
Rowe's prowess in front of goal will be welcomed by Dino Maamria's Latics, currently 18th in League Two and nine points above the drop zone.
Coasters chairman David Haythornthwaite insisted there was no animosity with the 30-year-old before his switch in an exclusive interview with The Non-League Paper last Sunday after rejecting a “derisory offer” from an unnamed League Two club.
Last night he said the club would “forever be in his debt” in a statement hailing the forward's impact since arriving from Lincoln in 2014 and smashing numerous records along the way to becoming an undisputed club legend.
“Danny has been an amazing servant for the club and helped us get where we are today and for that, we will forever be in his debt.”
Chairman David Haythornthwaite has paid tribute to Danny Rowe, as the striker moves on to Oldham Athletic.
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— AFC Fylde (@AFCFylde) January 16, 2020
“Danny has been an amazing servant for the club and helped us get where we are today and for that we will forever be in his debt,” he said.
“It's common knowledge I didn't want him to go and nor did we need to sell him. However, after discussing it with Jim Bentley, we agreed it would be unfair to deny him the opportunity to ply his trade at a higher level.
“We wish him every success at his new club.”
Rowe set a host of goalscoring records during his six years with the Coasters, including netting the winning goal at Wembley last season as they beat Leyton Orient to lift the FA Trophy.
When the Coasters won the National League North and promotion in 2016/17 Rowe scored 47 times in the league to win the division's player of the season accolade.
He went on to score 24 more the following season in the National League to win the top tier's the player of the year award.
In 2018/19 he netted another 27 league goals to win the golden boot and collect the the player of the season prize yet again.
Make sure you get your copy of The Non-League Paper on Sunday for the latest news from across Non-League over the last seven days, together with exclusive match reports and pictures from all of Saturday's upcoming action in the Vanarama National League.
