Chichester City sign Moneyfields striker and ex-Worthing midfielder

But they have bid farewell to skipper Connor Cody and Canadian midfield man Emmett Dunn – while managing to retain most of the squad who carried them to a 10th-place finish last term.

Hutchings is an eye-catching signing for the men from Oaklands Park.

He has been a regular goalscorer and good servant to Portsmouth side Moneyfields for several years and as a pal of City bosses Miles Rutherford and Graeme Gee, he has appeared for City on dual registration terms a number of times in recent seasons.

Honore is a young midfielder formerly with Worthing who has shone for the likes of Burgess Hill Town and Haywards Heath Town.

Cody has moved to Whitehawk – newly promoted to the Isthmian premier division – while Dunn has moved away from West Sussex.

Chi City coach Danny Potter said: “We’re sorry to see Connor and Emmett move on but they have been great for us and we wish them well.

"We’re delighted to get Steve and Conrad into the squad while retaining the large majority of last year’s squad.

"Since we went up to step four in 2019, we’ve always looked to retain as many as we can year to year and it’s been a big part of our success.”

The Chi players have been back in training for a fortnight and Potter said: “It’s gone well so far. It’s been nice to see everyone together again and they’ve been working hard.”

The start of City’s programme of friendlies has been held up by a couple of games being called off but they are now ready to begin a run of away friendlies – with Oaklands Park unavailable at present because of planned pitch work.

They go to Pagham next Tuesday, then Brockenhurst on Saturday 22. A week later they visit Isthmian League neighbours Bognor.

Their latest FA Cup adventure begins with an extra preliminary round visit to Southall on Saturday, August 5 – who they will also visit in the FA Trophy in September. League action starts on August 12.