This is a full-time position and is funded by the club through sponsorship from Castle Cars, the Friends of Banbury United Community Lottery and funding from Cherwell District Council and Activate Learning Banbury and Bicester College for specific projects.

To purpose of the role is to deliver Banbury United’s “United in Community” programme. This is an outreach programme aimed at engaging with schools and other agencies to provide opportunities for participation in football locally and increase awareness of Banbury United.

We are pleased to have attracted a coach of Ryan’s calibre and experience. He has worked previously as a coach for a company providing school and out of school coaching packages, supporting schools with PE and after school clubs. He has also coached junior teams at Banbury United and is an Assistant Coach for the newly formed Banbury United Development team.

Commenting on his appointment Ryan said “I am really pleased to be a part of this great club, the work the club already does in the community is fantastic and I’m looking forward to working with the local schools and college to inspire the next generation of young footballers in Banbury.”

Banbury United Chairman Phil Lines said “This is an exciting new initiative for Banbury United and a lot hard work has gone into establishing this position. It’s great we have a young enthusiastic coach on board who will make a positive difference to young people in Banbury and the surrounding area. We are delighted too that Castle Cars have shown their support and commitment to the community by coming on board as sponsors”

Castle Cars Managing Director Yasser Hanif was delighted to support the town’s Community owned club and said "We're very excited to be sponsoring the club's United in the Community strategy. We're proud to be supporting Ryan Jones and the work he will be doing in the local primary schools, with families, BME groups and the students at Banbury and Bicester College. This is a bold and exciting move by the club to expand its work in the community and we're 100% behind them."

The main tasks of the role are to

• Deliver football coaching to specific groups in the community to support the objectives of Cherwell District Council funded programmes

• Coach students in the Banbury United Academy set up in partnership with Banbury and Bicester College. Students will undertake a Level 2 diploma course as part of a BTEC qualification. This will include coaching a team in a Wednesday afternoon league against similar teams

• Establish relationships with local schools in order to set up and deliver football programmes and sessions for schools in North Oxfordshire working with the local school Sports Partnership.

• Arrange appropriate matchday visits to the club for schoolchildren, parents and teachers through collaboration with Banbury United’s charity partner ARCH, who provide literacy support in primary schools, to maximise the link between football and reading in primary schools.

• Set up and run holiday coaching courses for young players.

You can support the position by participating in the Friends of Banbury United Community Lottery that has now been running for two months. There's a weekly draw and the top prize to date saw two entrants share a prize of £1,726. You can buy tickets on our stand in Castle Quay and at a number of other outlets in the area. See here for more details

The attached photo shows Sajjad Ahmed and Dave Upton from Castle Cars with Ryan and Mark Allitt, Banbury United Commercial Director and Ricky Rea, Banbury United Director with responsibility for football development.