Nicky Banger

Nicholas Lee Banger (born 25 February 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Nicky Banger
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Lee Banger[1]
Date of birth (1971-02-25) 25 February 1971
Place of birth Southampton, Hampshire, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1987–1989 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1994 Southampton 55 (8)
1994–1997 Oldham Athletic 64 (10)
1997–1999 Oxford United 63 (8)
1999–2001 Dundee 6 (0)
2000 → Scunthorpe United (loan) 1 (0)
2001 Plymouth Argyle 10 (2)
2002 Merthyr Tydfil[2] 2 (0)
2002 Torquay United[2] 1 (0)
2002 Andover[3] 1 (0)
2002–2003 Woking 20 (4)
2003–2005 Eastleigh 15 (2)
2005 Newbury
2005 Brockenhurst
2005–2006 Lymington & New Milton
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He notably played in the Premier League for Southampton at the beginning of his career, and later went on to feature in the Scottish Premiership for Dundee and in the Football League for Oldham Athletic, Oxford United, Scunthorpe United, Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United. He also played non-league football for Merthyr Tydfil, Andover, Woking, Eastleigh, Newbury, Brockenhurst and Lymington & New Milton.

Since retiring, Banger has remained in football but has worked in the commercial and corporate side of the game. He has held a variety of different positions in this sector for Romsey Town, Havant & Waterlooville, Aldershot Town and Woking.

Playing career

Banger was born in Southampton and started his football career as a trainee with Southampton, turning professional in April 1989. He scored a hat-trick on his first team debut for the Saints, in a League Cup tie against Rochdale in 1990.[4]

He moved to Oldham Athletic for a fee of £250,000 in October 1994 and remained at Boundary Park for almost three years, moving to Oxford United on a free transfer in August 1997.

Banger then moved to Dundee, again on a free transfer in October 1999, but was transfer listed by manager Ivano Bonetti in July 2000.[5] He returned to England with a loan spell at Scunthorpe United in November 2000,[6] finally leaving Dundee in August 2001 when he joined Plymouth Argyle on a short-term contract. He scored on his Plymouth debut, in a 3–1 win at home to Swansea City.[7] However, he struggled with injuries and left Home Park in November the same year.

After time out with a back injury, he joined Torquay United on trial in January 2002,[8] but left requiring further treatment. In February 2002 he joined Leroy Rosenior's Merthyr Tydfil, before finally signing for Torquay a month later,[9] making his Gulls debut in 0–0 draw with Mansfield Town. This was his only appearance for Torquay as he asked to be released from his contract just a few days later due to his lack of fitness. After leaving the Gulls, he briefly joined non-league Andover, playing in the final game of the season as Andover drew 1–1 away to Fleet Town to clinch the Wessex League title and promotion to the Southern League.[3]

Banger joined Woking in August 2002,[10] moving to Eastleigh in February 2003[11] and again scoring on his club debut. In April 2004 he was appointed as full-time corporate manager and coach at Eastleigh,[12] continuing as a player until his retirement in February 2005. He quit his coaching role at Eastleigh, although remained corporate manager until late February 2006, when he resigned after falling out with the team manager,[13] in August 2005 when he joined AFC Newbury as a player.[14]

In November 2005 Banger joined Brockenhurst as player-coach,[15] but left the same month to take a similar role with Lymington & New Milton.[16] He resigned from his post in June 2006, claiming that he felt restricted in a head coach role and wanted a managerial post.[17]

Commercial career

In December 2006, Banger was appointed as commercial manager at Romsey Town,[18] but was sacked after just seventeen days in the post, amid rumours that he was announcing himself as the future team manager while allegedly tapping up players in readiness for next season.[19] However, he was not out of work for long and on 19 February 2007 he began work as the new corporate sales manager with Havant & Waterlooville.[20]

In 2008, he joined Aldershot Town as Corporate Sales Manager as they prepared for promotion to the Football League.[21]

He was head of commercial operations with Woking F.C. until May 2016.[22]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southampton
1990–91[23] First Division 600013—73
1991–92[23] First Division 4000101[lower-alpha 1]060
1992–93[23] Premier League 2761010—296
1993–94[23] Premier League 1401010—160
1994–95[23] Premier League 420000—42
Total 5582043106211
Oldham Athletic
1994–95[24] First Division 2831020—313
1995–96[24] First Division 13210001[lower-alpha 2]0152
1996–97[25] First Division 2351041—286
Total 64103061107411
Oxford United
1997–98[26] First Division 2830050—333
1998–99[27] First Division 3253020—375
1999–2000[28] Second Division 300010—40
Total 638308000748
Dundee 1999–2000[29] Scottish Premier League 602[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 4]0—90
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2000–01[30] Third Division 100000—10
Plymouth Argyle 2001–02[31] Third Division 10200001[lower-alpha 5]0112
Merthyr Tydfil 2001–02[32] Southern Premier League 2000——20
Torquay United 2001–02[33] Third Division 100000—10
Andover 2001–02[32] Wessex League 1000——10
Woking 2002–03[34] National Conference 20400—1[lower-alpha 5]0214
Eastleigh 2004–05[35] Isthmian Premier Division 15200——152
Career total 238341001944027138
  1. Appearances in Full Members' Cup
  2. Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
  3. Appearances in Scottish Cup
  4. Appearances in Scottish League Cup
  5. Appearances in EFL Trophy

References
  1. Barry J. Hugman (1998). The PFA Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946–1998. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 1-85291-585-4.
  2. "Player Details: Season 2001–02". SoccerFacts UK. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  3. "Champions Again". Andover Advertiser. 2 May 2002. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  4. "Mark Dennis and Nicky Banger". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  5. Dundee transfer list two more
  6. Iron keen to keep Banger
  7. "Plymouth 3–1 Swansea". BBC Sport. 11 September 2001. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  8. Banger back in action
  9. "Banger quits Merthyr after just 3 games". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  10. Three new Cards
  11. "Another ex-Saint heading to Eastleigh". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  12. "Banger gets full-time Eastleigh post". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  13. "Banger to sever links with Eastleigh". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  14. "Banger quits Eastleigh for AFC Newbury". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  15. "Brock want Nicky to stay". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  16. "Banger does go – Saunders in as a replacement". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  17. "Banger's off". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  18. "FOOTBALL: Banger appointed Town commercial manager". The Romsey Advertiser. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  19. "Banger sacked after 17 days". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  20. "Banger's back in business". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  21. "Message from the Chairman". Aldershot Town F.C. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  22. Youlton, Clive (3 May 2016). "Woking FC commercial manager Nicky Banger departs". Get Surrey. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  23. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 219,223,228,235,241,478. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  24. "Player search: Banger, NL (Nicky)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  25. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  26. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  27. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  28. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  29. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  30. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  31. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  32. "Nicky Banger career appearances". sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  33. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  34. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  35. "Games played by Nicky Banger in 2004/2005". soccerfactsuk.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
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