Hot-shot striker to return to Camrose (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Hot-shot striker to return to Camrose

12:29pm Wednesday 14th June 2006 in

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NEVILLE Roach has said he is absolutely delighted to have rejoined Basingstoke Town - and admitted he should never have left in the first place.

The 27-year-old striker is Francis Vines' first official signing of the summer - and the Town manager is promising more new faces will arrive over the next fortnight as he continues to prepare for the 2006-2007 Nationwide South season.

To the delight of the Camrose Blues fans, hot-shot Roach - who scored 62 goals in 143 appearances in three seasons from 2002 to 2005 - has penned a one-year contract to return.

And he told The Gazette: "It feels great to be a Basingstoke Town player again - I shouldn't have left.

Neville Roach factfile

Date of birth: 29/9/1978 Height: 5ft 10in Weight: 11st Previous clubs: Reading, Torquay, Southend, Oldham, Oxford United, Basingstoke Town, Eastleigh Did you know? Roach scored 62 goals in 143 appearances, eight as substitute, in his previous three-season spell at Basingstoke Town from 2002 to 2005

"I always loved playing for the club, the fans and people there have always supported me, so I'm looking forward to seeing them all again and scoring goals for Basingstoke Town this season."

The signing ends Roach's nightmare season-long spell at Eastleigh, the club he elected to join last summer after rejecting a new, improved contract at Town.

Roach told The Gazette that, with hindsight, he should have stayed and turned down Eastleigh boss Paul Doswell's financial overtures 12 months ago - but that the £500 per week, three-year deal on offer proved too alluring.

However, the move turned sour and he did not enjoy his football with Town's county rivals, despite a return of nine goals in 21 starts.

He was in and out of the side, spent three months on loan at Coca-Cola League Two Oxford United - as he enjoyed a new lease of life in attempting to secure a pro-contract once more - before unhappily returning to Eastleigh when the loan ended.

However, it soon became as bad as before for Roach at Eastleigh and, after being told he wasn't in the manager's plans, further discussions with Doswell and chief executive Paul Murray saw the trio agree by mutual consent, on May 27, Roach could leave.

It was then that Vines stepped up his interest and negotiations began in earnest, leading to the swift signing.

And Vines said: "I am really delighted to have Neville on board.

"I have been a long-term admirer of his - I tried to bring him to Crawley two years ago - so I'm very pleased to have got him now.

"Neville is the first of the new faces I am bringing in over the summer - and, of course, supporters are understandably curious as to which players will be coming in for next season.

"All I can say is that I have spoken to a number of targets on my wish list and hope we will have some movement in the next fortnight."

Roach will report for pre-season training in three weeks' time and his playing return in Basingstoke colours will come against Millwall on Saturday, July 15, for the second Remembrance Cup match at the Camrose.

However, Roach admitted there is a tinge of regret surrounding his return.

Former management duo Ernie Howe and Pete Peters wanted to bring the ex-Reading man back on two separate occasions last season as times got tough and the side cried out for the 20-goals-a-season scorer that they never replaced properly when Roach left.

But the £3,000 fee Eastleigh were asking for a player who had left for free, and who could have gone for £7,500 to Salisbury in March 2005 - a double-your-wages move Roach rejected - stayed their hand.

Roach is disappointed he did not get a chance to link up with the pair who, he feels, got the best out of him as a player - and possibly score the goals that could have saved their jobs.