Stratford bolster their playing squad with new signing while Birmingham City are revealed as one of several pre-season friendlies

Stratford Town have bolstered their squad with the signing of Harry Reilly while several of last season's squad have also committed their futures to the club.

Reilly arrives from Southern League Premier Division Central rivals Banbury United, where he enjoyed two separate spells, the most recent of which saw him reunite with now fellow Bard, Henry Landers.

“I’m buzzing to be here and excited to get started,” Reilly said.

“The club have been close for the last couple of seasons, so hopefully with the right additions to what’s already a talented squad we can have a right go and be up there come the end of the season.”

Reilly brings with him a wealth of experience at this level and above. He first joined Banbury in 2021 after spending several years playing in the United States.

His performances helped the Oxfordshire outfit gain promotion to the Vanarama National League North, after which he had spells with Kettering Town and Redditch United before returning to Banbury last season.

The 26-year-old played over 30 league games during his second stint with Kettering, and re-joined Banbury last term, where he featured alongside Landers, who was Stratford’s first summer signing from National League North side Leamington.

Lewis Ludford-Ison, Owen James, Dan Vann, Jack Storer, Dan Lafferty and Jamie Molyneux have all agreed to return

Forward James expressed his eagerness to return to action: “I really enjoyed playing for Stratford last season, so it wasn’t a hard decision to sign on.

"We really gave it a go last year, so hopefully we can go a step further this time. Excited to get back at it and see all the fans and people around the club.”

Molyneux, meanwhile, is looking to put an injury-hit campaign behind him, saying: "It was a frustrating season for me last year with being injured for so long, but still loved being around the lads and the club. Let's hope we can go one step further this year.

However, the club has confirmed that long-serving defender Paul McCone will depart after three seasons.

On the pre-season friendly front, Stratford will kick-off their summer preparations at home to Hartpury University on July 5.

Home matches will follow against Rugby Town (July 8), Solihull Moors (July 12) and Bishops Cleeve (July 15).

Championship outfit Birmingham City will send a side over to the Arden Garages Stadium on July 19 before Loughborough Students visit three days later.

A trip to Hungerford Town awaits the Bards on July 26 before further home friendlies against Racing Club Warwick (July 29) and Brackley Town (August 2).