New signing Jamie Cureton admits promotion is his aim as a Cheltenham Town striker.
Jamie Cureton became the club's first signing of the summer earlier today when he signed a one year contract here at the Abbey Business Stadium.
Jamie, 37, arrived in early afternoon and quickly put pen to paper on a deal that will see him through until the end of the 2013-14 campaign. Jamie was made available this summer with Exeter unable to offer him a new deal but he will now link up with his new team-mates next week as pre-season kicks off.
The Bristol-born striker sat down with ctfc.com and Robins Player earlier today and admitted that his sole aim for the coming season was promotion as a Cheltenham Town player.
"I'm definitely happy and it's always nice to get your future sorted," he explained.
"I spoke to the manager 3-4 weeks ago and then went on holiday so it was just a case of coming into sign the contract. You always take an interest in the clubs that are interested in you and I remember Exeter taking a battering here last season. I should have perhaps scored against Cheltenham at St James' Park at the end of last season.Â
"This is a team that has done very well over the past two years and have only just missed out on promotion. I understand a few players will leave but the manager has told me he will be bringing some good players in and we should be as strong, if not stronger than we were last season.Â
"Hopefully at this point next year we will be up and out of this division."
Mark Yates was alongside Jamie as he put pen to paper on his contract here this afternoon and Cheltenham's new acquisition can't wait to get started next week.
Despite the excitement of signing for his new club, Jamie also reserved kind words for his former club Exeter who he now departs following an impressive season in front of goal.
Jamie scored 21 league goals for the Grecians last season and he admitted he was sad to say goodbye to his former club.Â
"I had two very good years with Exeter either side of my time with Leyton Orient and I would have liked to have stayed at that point because I was happy but the manager could not put anything forward to me.
"He would have liked me to stay but at that point he couldn't offer me anything. It was disappointing because I enjoyed my time with Exeter but I had to make a decision and I'm really happy to be a Cheltenham player now."
The transfer for Jamie has been in the pipeline for a number of weeks now and, although the contract was verbally agreed, there was still plenty of work to do to get the deal finalised.
Part of the reason Jamie joined Cheltenham Town's Ruby Revolution was to be closer to home and his children but the former Reading and Norwich frontman revealed that the prospect of playing for a progressive promotion chasing side was something that inspired him to make the switch.
"I said it would be nice to stay local because my kids live in Chippenham and I've been away for a while," he said.
"It's got to a point where I'd like to set up a base because I've always wanted to be in the Bristol area or just around it. It wasn't key but it did play a part in my decision. I was impressed after speaking with the manager and it just made sense.
"I like to get into a club and settle quickly. You always want to get your first goal early but I feel good and hopefully I'll hit the ground running. I'm hopeful that if I play a lot of games then I'll get a lot of goals too."
'Curo' won't have to wait too long before linking up with his new team-mates but he already knows a couple of faces around the club and he admitted he had spoken to another former Robins' striker ahead of making the move.
"I know Billy (Jones here and Stevey (Elliott) too because of the Bristol connection but I don't know too much about the other boys.
"I spoke to Barry Hayles about coming here because he is a good friend of mine and he had nothing but good things to say about the club and manager. I didn't know too much about the club but I am fairly local so I have seen things but everyone I have spoken to have nothing but praise for the club.Â
"Cheltenham Town is a good place to be for me."
You can watch Jamie's full interview on Robins Player here.