Soham Town Rangers and Ely City get busy with double-figure number of additions

Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division neighbours Soham Town Rangers and Ely City have had a busy weekend in terms of recruitment with the arrival of 11 players between them.

Six of those have signed on the dotted line on at Soham, who are preparing for a first campaign at Step 5 since being crowned champions in 2007/08 following last season's relegation.

Luke Brown has returned to the club after his departure in 2020. Upon leaving Julius Martin Lane the striker has had spells with Hitchin Town and St Albans City, while last season he was Stowmarket Town's leading goalscorer as they reached the semi-finals of the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division play-offs.

Brown has been joined in re-signing for the Greens by his brother Alex – a left-sided defender that has had previous stints with the likes of Ely, Godmanchester Rovers and Hitchin.

Between the posts Soham's joint bosses Lloyd Groves and Matt Clements have secured the services of Harry Reynolds. The goalkeeper, who had a brief spell with Soham in 2015 after being released by Cheltenham Town, has spent the last few seasons between the posts for Ely and has been a key part of their recent Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup triumphs and club-record FA Vase run.

Soham's other three signings – Kai Nicholls, Finley Scott and Ed Watson – are all new faces. Nicholls – a defender or midfielder – and centre-back Scott have both come in from Histon while striker Watson was most recently been on the books of Saffron Walden Town.

As for Ely, manager Luke McAvoy has bolstered his ranks with the arrival of five additions.

Young attacker Ben Landshoff has made the move to the Demcom Stadium from Newmarket Town, while Toby Egan – once on the books of Ipswich Town – has replaced Reynolds in goal.

Ardened Hida (Cherry Hinton), Sam Townshend (Cottenham United) and Ben Smith have also been drafted in by McAvoy and new head coach Ollie Drake.