After a successful conclusion to the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two season, Manager Steve Evans is already planning for the 2026/27 campaign.
The Pirates finished last term unbeaten in nine outings, winning the first eight matches of the run to become the only team in the English Football League to do so that season.
In that, Gasheads will take plenty of memories from seven straight wins at The Memorial Stadium, watching the Pirates beat promotion hopefuls Grimsby Town, a late comeback over Crewe Alexandra, courtesy of Tommy Leigh and an unforgettable afternoon against Cheltenham Town, where Ellis Harrison netted a hat-trick, and Evans was in the Thatchers End to watch Shaq Forde's late strike.
Speaking to BRTV, Evans reflected on the season, delivered a squad update, and outlined some plans for the 2026/27 season.
Steve, the season has concluded, but we’re still here and working hard at the training ground. It's a chance to give the Gasheads a bit of an insight into the decisions made earlier this week with the retained list.
Let’s start in goal. Brad Young has had a fantastic 2026, and we also have Luke Southwood and Jed Ward. Can you tell us some of the decisions made there, please?
“In terms of Brad, it was fairly straightforward. He’s grabbed the shirt; he’s been really composed, and he’s still developing, of course. He’s got a long way to go, but that allowed me to assess the whole of the goalkeeping department.
“Luke has been into my office many times in a very professional manner, it has to be said, but he strives to play. He’s played at the Championship level with Reading. He’s very experienced, and he wants to go and play. So, we’re going to facilitate that if it’s right for him. If he stays in the building, there’s no problem. He’ll compete with Brad for the number one shirt.
“Jed was a bit different. I’ve travelled to see Jed in recent weeks, and he’s a Gashead at heart. I had a long, long chat with him in the last couple of days. He again wants to play. I think when you have had a lot of first-team action, it’s very difficult to then go back into being the number two or number three or trying to compete to be the number one. He’s a young goalkeeper that I think highly of, but we also have to respect his wishes.
“He’ll command a fee for sure. There have already been a couple of offers that we have rebuffed, but if that level offer gets to the level that the board thinks is acceptable, we’ll move him on.
"Obviously, if both of them move on, we’ve also got our eye on how we would replace them, and that will either be with a nailed-on, competent League One or Championship goalkeeper who will come in and compete on a level playing field, or the decision will be made to bring in another Brad from 12 months ago. So, he’s coming in to develop under James Bittner and his staff and see if he can get the shirt.”
Now, let's move on to the defence, where you have an array of options available. Can you talk through some of the decisions made there, please?
“I think the one that people probably looked at was Joel Senior, whose contract was up, but the football club had an option to keep them, and those decisions lie in my office. I had a chat with Joel and made the decision that we would take his option of another year on his contract up.
"Of course, conversations have taken place with Joel and the people who look after him, principally with me around football. But what we have been able to do in the last two or three days is make Joel’s team and the boys that look after him a separate offer to lengthen that stay, possibly, and to give Joel a little bit more security.
“Joel, in the past, was on about going north, but he’s had a really good end to the season with us. Injuries have gone, and hopefully, that offer gives him a bit more security. That’s where we are on that one.”
What about the midfield, boss?
“In the midfield, there were some really tough decisions. Moving on, Tom Lockyer, central defence and centre-mid, was a really tough decision. I got to know Tom really well, and I had a long, long chat with him before any decisions were made. I had to conclude that what we were trying to do was go in a slightly different direction.
“I’ve said to him, and my advice would be to keep playing. He could be in League Two, he could be in League One, he’s got that capability. But if you’re equal to probably the highest-paid player at the football club, the decision in my office lies a little bit differently when you’re trying to manage the budget over a squad. So, we had to do something there. He’s a brilliant kid, and hopefully, he continues playing and goes into coaching and management in the future.
“With Luke Thomas, every time I put him on the pitch, he did well for us. I think he has had four seasons now with the Gas and been through a promotion, so he’s seen highs, but he’s also seen the lows when it was pretty poor at the beginning of the season.
“Luke wanted to play. That was the biggest factor in this decision. He wanted to go and play. He has options, both local and afar, and we’ve sent him on with our best wishes. He’s welcome back as a Gashead at any time. Anyone who has gone through a promotion here is revered by our supporters and rightfully so. I endorse every bit of that.”
Let's finalise the squad up front, and some fans noticed the name Ellis Harrison under contract.
“I’ve been speaking with Ellis for a little while. Ellis was the most simplistic deal ever in the world to be done, ‘Gaffer, I want to stay, just give me some numbers'. I don’t do the numbers; I reverse that back to our chairman, who probably extended Ellis for a further season. It could have been more, and maybe, in my opinion, it could and should have been, but I think the football club has been bitten, particularly over the last two or three years and even longer, over giving deals out for longer.
“Ellis has been tremendous since I walked in. People will look at the last ten or 11 games with his goal record; it’s up there with the best in League One and Two, but it was a bit more than that for me. It was his contribution in the dressing room, it was his contribution in the group, and he’s a big Gashead at heart, of course. When someone makes it easy when they want to stay, and they are delivering on the pitch, then I was delighted when Ellis accepted my handshake.”
When you look at the decisions that have been made for the squad, you rightly touched on it in your last answer, good lads and good people potentially leaving the building either out of contract or available for transfer. How hard is that for you in your job to manage in terms of those brilliant characters, but wanting to build the right squad for next season?
“I think the decisions are always tough. When you look at Taylor Moore, who, from a supporter's point of view, is easy to put on the transfer list because he’s not had a lot of game time, particularly during the successful run, but he’s a really good player and, more importantly, he’s a great lad and a brilliant professional. He came into my office and wants to play. That made it very easy for me to say that you’ve got a year left with us, but if you really want to play, we’ll make it known to every other club that you’re available.
“Isaac Hutchinson was a different example. He had a wonderful season, principally at Cheltenham, 20 plus goals, and it would have been more if we hadn’t recalled him, I think. He made no secret of the fact that he wants to play higher. I’ve managed a lot in League One and the Championship, and in my opinion, he’s certainly capable of playing higher than the level we’re playing.
"But of course, if he doesn’t get the move or the value is not met, and the transfer fee is not agreed, he’ll come back in with us as I told him at the end of the summer campaign, and he can get the nonsense out of his head that he wants to move on. At the minute, we’re willing to facilitate that because principally, what I believe is that if you don’t want to be here, get on your bike. You have to want to play for this football club.
“In the last four or five weeks of the season, fans have travelled all around the country, 11,500, 12,000 at home, and people are not getting tickets for the last couple of home games. It’s just been amazing, with not a lot to play for other than the pride in the Gas shirt. So, from our point of view, Isaac made his view clear, so we’re willing to help, but of course, to a level. Our chairman will set whatever fee is appropriate.”
Two players are out of contract, five loan players are going back to their parent club, and six or seven players are potentially available for transfer. That potentially means there is some space in the squad to be filled this summer.
“There is certainly some space, otherwise we will be playing six a side. There are some conversations to be had, first and foremost, with parent clubs of the boys that we have sent back from their loan, because, in principle, everyone played a part.
“Young Kane Thompson-Sommers didn’t have the best run and time with us, and minutes on the pitch. He was getting frustrated, but who could forget his contribution at Swindon and a magnificent goal? Not only that, but there were also some really good performances, but when you’re not getting on the pitch, and you come to get on the pitch, it can be a little bit frustrating for him.
“There is no doubt that the other loan boys played a massive part when you look at Kofi Balmer, who comes in as a full international and sets standards equal to Richie Smallwood, of course, who has played over 250 games in the Championship, captained Blackburn Rovers and was in the League Two team of the year last season. I can tell you now that if he were here all season, he would be in the League Two team of the year again because he has been brilliant for us.
“Just to update our supporters, conversations with the loan boys that we would like to bring back are going on now with them and their parent clubs, and we’ll see where they go. We’re not saying that they are the only options we have, but would it be good to have a Smallwood and a Balmer and a Tommy Leigh back with us? Absolutely, but we have to do what’s right for the club, and the levels have to be right. Of course, the parent clubs have to agree with that.”
You're at the training ground here today. It’s the off-season, and there are no games to expect in the next few weeks, but you’re here, looking at clips, scouting players, and considering the options that are further afield as well.
“We’ve had players in the building with me and the Chief Executive, Richie, and of course, the Chairman. The players have been in and out for most of the week, and there are one or two in today. We’ll continue to talk and see where we go, but as I’ve always said, gone are the days that we bring a player into this football club based on a telephone conversation. As I’m doing tomorrow, I'm getting into the car and going to meet a player in the northwest. So, I’m going to go there and have a chat with him.
“More importantly, we have to be focused on what we want to achieve, which is bringing good players and adding to the good players that we have, because I don’t think it’s any secret that when we made our last signing in the January transfer window until the end of the season, we would’ve been champions by five or six points.
"That’s the facts, but it’s the players who have delivered that. We’re largely keeping the ones that have made a massive contribution to that, and we’re trying to move on the boys who have got frustrated and not played a part in that or are coming back to our house and want to go back out. If you don’t want to be in our house, go and live with the neighbours. It doesn’t matter to me."
Finally, Steve, you’ve been with us for just under six months now, joining midway through December. It’s been a fantastic run of form, and the energy is infectious. How much have you enjoyed your time here so far?
“It’s been incredible. I must admit that I didn’t think the club would grab me the way it has. For me not to be home four or five times a week to see my family, but particularly my two grandsons and two granddaughters, who I love dearly, I Zoom them every day, but this football club grabs you.
"The mission is a tough one; it’s a difficult test to go from where we’ve been to make sure we’re challenging at the top end of this league, but that’s why I’ve come. I can see the potential of this football club, and I’ve bought into it, where the owners are desperate to take the club back to where they bought it. But really, as we know, I’ve been in the Championship with Rotherham United and Leeds United; this is a Championship club all day long, but you are where you are. My job is to take us where we need to be.”
