Nicholas Lee Banger is a retired English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

. He is currently corporate sales manager with Aldershot Town.

Banger was born in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 and started his football career as a trainee with Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

, 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.

He moved to Oldham Athletic

Oldham Athletic A.F.C.

Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...

 for a fee of £250,000 in October 1994 and remained at Boundary Park for almost three years, moving to Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

 on a free transfer in August 1997.

Banger then moved to Dundee

Dundee F.C.

Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...

, again on a free transfer in October 1999, but was transfer listed by manager Ivano Bonetti

Ivano Bonetti

Ivano Bonetti is an Italian football manager and former player. His father Aldo played for Brescia until the Second World War, brother Mario played for Atalanta and brother Dario played over 100 games for Roma and won two caps for Italy.He is the current director of football of Lega Pro Prima...

 in July 2000. He returned to England with a loan spell at Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

 in November 2000, finally leaving Dundee in August 2001 when he joined Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

 on a short-term contract. He scored on his Plymouth debut, in a 3–1 win at home to Swansea City. However, he struggled with injuries and left Home Park

Home Park

Home Park is an all-seater football stadium in the Central Park area of Plymouth, England, and is the home of Football League Two club Plymouth Argyle. The ground, given the nickname the Theatre of Greens by the club's supporters, has been Argyle's permanent residence since 1901...

 in November the same year.

After time out with a back injury, he joined Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 on trial in January 2002, but left requiring further treatment. In February 2002 he joined Leroy Rosenior

Leroy Rosenior

Leroy Rosenior is a professional football coach and pundit. He is a former professional footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers , Bristol City and West Ham United.As one of the few black football managers in England, Rosenior has spoken openly about the racism...

’s Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil F.C.

Merthyr Tydfil Football Club was a Welsh football club based at the Penydarren Park ground in Merthyr Tydfil. In 2010 the club was liquidated and reformed under the name Merthyr Town, which was accepted into Division One of the Western League.-History:...

, before finally signing for Torquay a month later, making his Gulls debut in 0–0 draw with Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

. 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

Andover F.C.

Andover F.C. was a football club based in Andover, Hampshire, established in 1883. Since the 2007–08 season, Andover had been a member of the Southern League Division One South and West at Step 4 of the National League System...

, playing in the final game of the season as Andover drew 1–1 away to Fleet Town

Fleet Town F.C.

Fleet Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Fleet, Hampshire, England. They were established in 1890 and joined the Athenian League in 1979. In 2004, they joined the Isthmian League First Division, were moved into the Southern League Division One South & West in 2007,...

 to clinch the Wessex League

Wessex League

The Wessex League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system...

 title and promotion to the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

.

Banger joined Woking

Woking F.C.

Woking Football Club is a football club from in Woking, Surrey, England, formed in 1889. They are playing in the Conference South in the 2011–12 season. For the 2011/2012 season, Woking are sharing their ground with Conference National club Hayes & Yeading United.-Promotion to the...

 in August 2002, moving to Eastleigh

Eastleigh F.C.

Eastleigh Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Silverlake Stadium.-History:...

 in February 2003 and again scoring on his club debut. In April 2004 he was appointed as full-time corporate manager and coach at Eastleigh, 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, in August 2005 when he joined AFC Newbury

A.F.C. Newbury

A.F.C. Newbury were a football club based in Newbury, Berkshire, in England. At their peak they were a strong force in the Wessex League and had over 30 teams from seven years old through to veterans including junior teams, a senior squad, a ladies and several girls teams competing in national,...

 as a player.

In November 2005 Banger joined Brockenhurst

Brockenhurst F.C.

Brockenhurst F.C. is a football club from Brockenhurst, near Lymington, in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1898 and played mostly in friendlies before eventually joining the New Forest League. The club moved up to the Hampshire League in 1924 but after only two seasons at the higher level...

 as player-coach, but left the same month to take a similar role with Lymington & New Milton

Lymington & New Milton F.C.

New Milton Town F.C. is a football club based in New Milton, Hampshire, England. They were formed in 1998 by a merger between AFC Lymington and New Milton Town. They were champions of the Wessex League in 1998-99 and 2004-05...

. He resigned from his post in June 2006, claiming that he felt restricted in a head coach role and wanted a managerial post.

In December 2006, Banger was appointed as commercial manager at Romsey Town

Romsey Town F.C.

Romsey Town F.C. is a football club based in Romsey, Hampshire, England. They were among the founding members of the Wessex League in 1986. The club currently competes in the Wessex Premier Division which is the 9th tier of English football...

, 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. 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

Havant & Waterlooville F.C.

Havant & Waterlooville Football Club are an English football club based in Havant, Hampshire. The club formed in 1998 after a merger between Havant Town and Waterlooville, and are currently members of the Conference South. Nicknamed The Hawks, they play at West Leigh Park.-History:In 1998 Havant...

.

In 2008 he joined Aldershot Town

Aldershot Town F.C.

Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 as Corporate Sales Manager as they prepared for promotion to the Football League.

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