Steve Diggin

Steve Diggin (pictured above) is a 30 year-old striker who joins the club from Brackley Town. He began his career as a junior with Aston Villa but it was after a prolific goalscoring spell with United Counties League side Cogenhoe United in season 2006/07 that he attracted the attention of Corby Town and he joined them in the summer of 2007, going on to play a key part in their Southern League Championship winning side of 2008/09, scoring 25 goals that season. After two seasons with Corby in Conference North, Steve moved to Brackley Town in the summer of 2011 and immediately won another Southern League Championship medal as the Saints won promotion to Conference North. After two seasons with Brackley in Conference North he had a one season sojourn with Hednesford Town before returning to St James Park for season 2015/16 and he has remained with Brackley since then. Last season he was part of the team that won the FA Trophy Final at Wembley, with him coming on as substitute and scoring one of the goals in their successful penalty shoot-out.

Ben Baker

Ben Baker (pictured below) is an 18 year-old winger who joins the club from Kettering Town where he has played for their U18, U21 sides and for their first team, making his first team debut for the Poppies back in October 2015 as a 16 year-old. After a short loan spell with Barwell early last season he spent the last five months of the season on loan to St Ives Town and was a regular in their Southern League Premier Division side, scoring four goals from 23 appearances, including the St Ives goal when they were beaten 3-1 by Banbury United at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium in March. His time at Kettering saw him make 33 first team appearances and score eight goals, one of those being a superb strike against Banbury in the last game of the 2016/17 season.

Goalkeeping Coach – Liam Shea

Mike has also confirmed that Liam Shea will be returning to the club in the capacity of goalkeeping coach. Liam in his previous spell with Banbury United worked mainly with the club’s youth and reserve sides, as an assistant to manager Joe Davies, but does have one first team appearance for the club to his name, this was back in November 2011 when he kept goal in a Buckingham Charity Cup game against Winslow United. More recently Liam has been Assistant Manager at Hellenic League side Hook Norton and last season he was manager of Oxfordshire Senior League side Adderbury Park.