Nicholas Lee Banger (born 25 February 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He notably played in the Premier League for Southampton at the beginning of his career, and later went on to feature in the Scottish Premiership for Dundee and in the Football League for Oldham Athletic, Oxford United, Scunthorpe United, Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United. He also played non-league football for Merthyr Tydfil, Andover, Woking, Eastleigh, Newbury, Brockenhurst 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 and Woking.
Playing career Banger was born in Southampton and started his football career as a trainee with Southampton, 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 for a fee of £250,000 in October 1994 and remained at Boundary Park for almost three years, moving to Oxford United on a free transfer in August 1997.
Banger then moved to Dundee, again on a free transfer in October 1999, but was transfer listed by manager Ivano Bonetti in July 2000.Dundee transfer list two more He returned to England with a loan spell at Scunthorpe United in November 2000,Iron keen to keep Banger 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 Torquay United on trial in January 2002,Banger back in action but left requiring further treatment. In February 2002 he joined Leroy Rosenior's Merthyr Tydfil, before finally signing for Torquay a month later, making his Gulls debut in 0–0 draw with Mansfield Town. 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, playing in the final game of the season as Andover drew 1–1 away to Fleet Town to clinch the Wessex League title and promotion to the Southern League.
Banger joined Woking in August 2002, moving to Eastleigh 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 Brockenhurst 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 Aldershot Town as Corporate Sales Manager as they prepared for promotion to the Football League.
He was head of commercial operations with Woking F.C. until May 2016.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSouthampton1990–91First Division600013—731991–92First Division40001010601992–93Premier League2761010—2961993–94Premier League1401010—1601994–95Premier League420000—42Total5582043106211Oldham Athletic1994–95First Division2831020—3131995–96First Division1321000101521996–97First Division2351041—286Total64103061107411Oxford United1997–98First Division2830050—3331998–99First Division3253020—3751999–2000Second Division300010—40Total638308000748Dundee1999–2000Scottish Premier League602010—90Scunthorpe United (loan)2000–01Third Division100000—10Plymouth Argyle2001–02Third Division102000010112Merthyr Tydfil2001–02Southern Premier League2000——20Torquay United2001–02Third Division100000—10Andover2001–02Wessex League1000——10Woking2002–03National Conference20400—10214Eastleigh2004–05Isthmian Premier Division15200——152Career total238341001944027138
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