Gorleston boss Ricci Butler is “ecstatic” at the signing of Chris Henderson and believes the forward is the man to help take the club to the next level.

Henderson couldn’t commit to the demands of playing for King’s Lynn Town on their National League adventure and the Greens swooped for the 30-year-old.

Gorleston, who are moving into a new 800-capacity stadium, hope the signing of Henderson can be the start of them rising up through the leagues with the Greens harbouring big ambitions.

“It’s a massive signing - it’s probably the biggest signing in the league that any club at this level will make for the next couple of years,” said Butler.

“It’s not every day that you can sign a player that was named in the Vanarama North team of the season and so highly thought of.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s the direction we want to be heading in – we have signed several players to contracts and this is the way we are going.

“Hopefully over the next six to nine months we want a team that’s good enough for the new facilities. We want that buzz around the club that teams like Lowestoft, Leiston and King’s Lynn have all had on their way up through the leagues.

“The chairman is ambitious and I’ve got staff around me who want to be a part of success.”

Henderson could make his debut on Tuesday evening as Gorleston take on Norwich United.

“Chris is gagging to put on the green shirt,” added Butler. “We want him to expect as much from our players as he did from his King’s Lynn team-mates – that’s how the level will improve here.

“He said he liked what Gorleston wanted to do. Chris could have quite easily gone to a team higher than us - I’m sure teams like Lowestoft and Leiston would have been interested but I think he bought into what we are trying to do.”

More big signings could be on the horizon according to Butler but thoughts of promotion are on ice this season, although the next campaign could be a different story.

“I think this season is going to be about us getting used to each other – we’d love a trophy like the Norfolk Senior Cup or FA Vase and then next year we are going to be really looking to challenge,” said Butler.

“The players have got to get used to playing together. Someone like Kyle Ingram has never played with Chris Henderson before – they have got to get used to each other for example. That sort of thing has got to develop around the real team ethic.”