Liam will need no introduction to fans of the Gingerbreads, or the wider Northern Premier League, as he has been a proven goalscorer at this level of football for a number of years, including in games with the Gingerbreads.

Before joining Buxton in 2014, Liam had spells at Armthorpe Welfare, Harrogate Town and Harrogate Railway. In the 2014/15 campaign, he bagged 26 goals, before securing a move to Darlington in February 2016. A year later, Liam returned to the Silverlands and continued to be prolific in front of goal, winning the League's Golden Boot award in 2017/18. He has continued to be a consistent goalscorer with just shy of 40 goals since winning the Golden Boot.

Understandably, Martin McIntosh was delighted to be reunited with his former player:

“He is a fantastic addition to the side and someone who I wanted to bring in. His goalscoring record speaks for itself and even though by his standards he didn’t score as many as he would like, he is proven at this level. He’s still young, fit and healthy and possesses good pace and having worked with him before for four years, it was a no-brainer really.”

Callum Boyle had a chat with Liam Hardy to discuss his arrival.

Liam you’re now a Grantham Town player, how happy are you to have joined the club?

“I’m delighted to be here at Grantham. I’ve known them from my time playing at Buxton and Darlington and it is a really new and exciting challenge that I am looking forward to getting started with.”

What was it that attracted you to come and play for the Gingerbreads?

“I’ve known the manager and his coaching staff for a while, having played under them at Buxton and have always kept in touch with them. As soon as he told me he wanted me to come and play for him at Grantham it was an easy decision. I had some of my best years under him and I can’t wait to start working with him again.”

You have worked under Martin McIntosh before when at Buxton. How excited are you to play for him again?

“Very much so! He knows how I play and how to get the best out of me. He is an exciting manager to work for and when he told me what he wanted to do here as well as the type of players he wanted to bring in, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”

Fans will know you as a proven goalscorer at this level, but what else can then expect from you in a Grantham shirt?

“They can expect goals and lots of hard work from me. Last season personally wasn’t one of my greatest in terms of the amount of goals I scored but that has made me even more determined for next season and I’m looking forward to scoring goals in a Grantham shirt.”

What do you think the aim should be for the club next season?

“We all want to finish as high as we can. We want to be challenging as far up the table that we can do and achieve great things here. Everyone has ambitions here to be near the top and we will try our hardest to make the upcoming season a successful one.”

In addition to the signing of Hardy, Callum Boyle caught up with Martin McIntosh on a number of footballing issues.

How have you found life at the club so far?

“It was quite slow at first having only taken charge of two games and with the whole season coming to a close abruptly what with everything going on in the world. But I have been really busy the last couple of weeks in terms of planning ahead for the start of next season, as well as getting in the right sort of players for the squad.”

What's the situation with regards the squad in terms of departures?

“Craig Westcarr has left of his own accord which is fine; but to be honest I want to put my own stamp on the squad. Craig played once for me but he departs with my best wishes and I thank him for his efforts.”

“Every player is out of contract and has the right to move on should they wish. I’ll be getting in touch with the players I want next season though, along with bringing in some new personnel.”

Are there any other potential incomings that you have been working on?

“There’s another player who we expect to announce fairly soon and we have also been working on some other deals that could hopefully get announced as soon as they are completed but we are working hard behind the scenes to assemble the best squad possible.”

How else have you been preparing for the start of the new season?

“Normally we would be preparing for a return to pre-season training around the end of June, early July time but that could change with the current circumstances. We don’t have an official start date yet, but we are trying to prepare as normally as we can.”

“There’s a big rebuilding job to do here as the club has fallen short of expectations the last couple of seasons and I have been working really hard every day to make sure I bring in the best players I can. We have lots of areas to improve on and in the next few weeks we will be able to announce arrivals and it will be become clearer to the fans what we are trying to create here.”

What is the overall goal for next season?

“I’ve got targets and ideas in my head but they’re not things I want to shout about, especially this early on, as we don’t know what other teams will be like going into the new season and giving away ideas early on would be foolish! What I can promise is that we will be a better team who will compete and challenge in this league when we return to action.”

Are there any messages you have for the fans as they wait for the return of competitive football?

“Firstly, stay safe and well! The fans will see from the signings that I'm working on, particularly Liam, that they are going to be excited about the return. Even at Atherton for my first game in charge the following from the fans that day was incredible, and they back the team no matter what. I want to put a team on the pitch that will excite them about going to games on a Tuesday and a Saturday.”

“Even from the times I’ve played against Grantham I have seen the togetherness between everybody associated with the club and I want to ensure that remains a core aspect of what we plan to do here.”

“This is a new era at the club with owners, myself and my staff. I’ve got Greg Young coming in as a player/coach and Adam Smith has also been working alongside us to make sure we bring in the right personnel who will suit this football club and how we want to play.”

Chairman Darren Ashton commented:

''Signings like this show our intent for next season and this is just the start of the rebuilding process that is underway between the management and the Board.''

In addition, he added, ''We are working hard behind the scenes, paying respect to the restrictions currently in place, and fans should expect some exciting signings in the next few weeks and months. We have agreed a competitive budget with Martin, demonstrating our commitment to delivering a good team on the pitch, and hopefully some success to the Club and supporters.''

''Hopefully the fans will see what we are trying to achieve and in return they will show us their support by filling the seats and terraces to give the team the encouragement they will need to make Grantham a place other teams dread to come.''

''The Board has been overwhelmed by the generosity of supporters via the gofundme page, and that has helped the Club through the recent uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. We urge everyone connected with the Club to stay safe and follow the Government's guidelines, and when footballing activities are safe to resume, we will have a team in black and white to do them proud''

Welcome to the Gingerbreads Liam!