Nicholas Lee Banger (born 25 February 1971) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

at the beginning of his career, and later went on to feature in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

for

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, Scunthorpe United, Plymouth Argyle and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. He also played non-league football for

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

, Newbury,

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the north-east, while Bournemouth is also nearby, south-west. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

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 Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

and

Playing career

Banger was born in

and started his football career as a trainee with

, 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 Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

in 1990. He moved to

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

on a free transfer in August 1997. Banger then moved to

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

Ivano Bonetti Ivano Bonetti (born 1 August 1964) is an Italian football manager, club director and former professional footballer, the current CEO and president & owner of Mobisafe. As a player he was a midfielder from 1981 to 2002. He made appearances for s ...

in July 2000. He returned to England with a loan spell at Scunthorpe United in November 2000, 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. However, he struggled with injuries and left Home Park in November the same year. After time out with a back injury, he joined

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

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

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. 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

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

Wessex League The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but clubs from adjoining co ...

title and promotion to the Southern League. Banger joined

in August 2002, moving to

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 as a player. In November 2005 Banger joined

as player-coach, but left the same month to take a similar role with Lymington & New Milton. He resigned from his post in June 2006, claiming that he felt restricted in a head coach role and wanted a managerial post.

Commercial career

In December 2006, Banger was appointed as commercial manager at Romsey Town, 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. In 2008, he joined

as Corporate Sales Manager as they prepared for promotion to the

. He was head of commercial operations with

Woking F.C. Woking Football Club is a professional association football club, based in Woking, Surrey, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, they joined the Isthmian League ...

until May 2016.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banger, Nicky 1971 births Living people Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Southampton F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Andover F.C. players Woking F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players A.F.C. Newbury players Brockenhurst F.C. players New Milton Town F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Aldershot Town F.C. non-playing staff