NEWPORT County AFC manager Terry Butcher has revealed that defender Kevin Feely dropped the ‘massive bombshell’ that he wanted to leave the club almost two weeks ago, writes Andrew Penman.

Club and player have mutually agreed to cancel Feely’s contract to enable him to return to full-time education and play Gaelic football at home in Ireland.

Butcher admitted that the request, shortly after the defeat at Hartlepool on August 18, came as a shock but says the pair have parted on good terms.

“It was a massive surprise, a real bombshell when he came in and told us 11 or 12 days ago,” said the Exiles boss.

“But he’s an honest guy. You could see he wasn’t putting it on.

“He wasn’t trying to get somewhere else – he’s not like that.

“He’s a lovely guy and we wish him every success. I’ve never watched Gaelic football before but if Kevin’s playing then I’ll certainly tune in to see how he does.

“He leaves on Thursday and the lads want to give him a good send off.”

Having lost Feely and Regan Poole on transfer deadline day, Butcher signed free agent Matt Partridge and is likely to sign another defender on loan in the coming weeks.

“It was a massive bombshell because we’ve just got him fit and I was looking at him as one of my principal centre-halves,” he added.

“It was a body blow when he came in and told us but we had to respect his wishes and let him go.

“But we’ve acquired Matt Partridge on a permanent deal until the end of the season.

“He’s 21 and has played at Dagenham so he has good experience and we’ve filled that gap already.

“I’m happy with that and we’ll look to add to him as well.

“Kieran and Aaron Hayden have done well too and we’ve got Matt Taylor and Andrew Hughes to come back so we’ve got good options there.”