THE Basingstoke Bison have added even more firepower to their impressive offensive unit for the coming season, with the re-signing of British forward Matt Towalski.

The 32-year-old is one of the most experienced players in the English Premier League with over 600 appearances.

He made his debut in the league in season 2000/01 scoring for England under-20s and also played for the Slough Jets in the British National League in the same year.

The former Great Britain junior international then scored in three World Championships and also collected a gold medal for the under-20s in 2004, while still playing for Slough.

In 2005, he made the move to the Milton Keynes Lightning, where he spent the next seven seasons winning the play-offs in his debut year and the EPL league crown in 2009/10 campaign.

In the autumn of 2012 he returned to Slough, before moving across Berkshire to Bracknell two years later.

Last season, he started the season at the Hive, before joining the Bison and making his debut on Boxing Day.

The experienced forward joined an injury hit Herd and proved his worth by playing his part in bringing the league title to Basingstoke last term.

He finished the year with a combined total from the Bees and Bison of eight goals and 11 assists from 46 games Herd head coach Doug Sheppard is delighted to have Towalski back and said: “Matt adds veteran leadership both on and off the ice. He wants to win and fills a number of roles on this team.”

Returning Towalski said: “I am coming to the end of my career and I never expected to win another league title last season. Every year this league is getting stronger and it has again this season. We have a good team with a great dressing room.”

Towlaski last season played at Bracknell with two of the Bison’s summer signings forward Vanya Antonov and Lewis Turner. He believes both are great additions to the team.

The 32-year-old said: “Vanya is one of the most talented young players in this league. He can pass, shoot, has a great pair of hands and is sure to score some highlight goals this season. Lewis is as solid as they come and puts his body on the line every shift for his team.”