Darlington started his career at Nottingham Forest before moving to Peterborough United in 2020. He started in the Posh U18s and despite a stop start period due to injuries, Darlington’s performances impressed seeing the young forward earn a two-year professional deal alongside promotion into the U23s setup in May 2022.

Upon his signing for Peterborough, U23s Academy Manager, Kieran Scarff, said, “In terms of the way we want our centre forwards to play at this football club, he ticks a lot of the boxes. He is quick, direct, he will press out of possession, and he has scored a good number of goals within the under 18s and under 23s and I am sure he will kick on.”

During his time at the Cambridgeshire club, Lewis has embarked on two loan spells. His first loan spell came in January 2023 for Corby Town in which his 28-day loan saw him make four appearances for the steelmen. At the start of this season, the 19-year-old forward signed for Cambridge City until the end of December, seeing him make 10 appearances and scoring two goals for the club.

The Club would like to thank the Spencer Villa Fund for its contribution to Lewis's wages as we face an important stage of the season where all efforts are focused on remaining in the league. We are excited by the signing of the young forward and Lewis is in line to make his debut for the home clash against Peterborough sports on Tuesday night.

The Spencer Villa Fund was relaunched last summer to enable supporters of Banbury United to “boost the budget” and contribute towards the signing of new players throughout this and future seasons. Supporters can learn more and contribute via this page.

Welcome to the Puritans Lewis!

In other player news, Ethan Fitzhugh has been dual-registered to Mickleover. The Club is supporting Ethan getting more game time as he continues his recovery from injury prior to joining Banbury United.