AFC Totton AFC Totton Pitching In - Partners with Southern Football League

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SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH title challengers AFC Totton have confirmed the permanent signings of former Havant & Waterlooville duo Benny Read and Charlie Searle.

Full-back Benny Read (pictured above) joins on a longer-term deal after a successful loan period that began in late-November. Joining his younger brother Freddie at the Snows Stadium, the former Horndean defender has quickly settled into The Stags’ back line since his arrival from Westleigh Park, helping to extent Totton’s unbeaten league run to 14 matches.

Described by Manager Jimmy Ball as “a Rolls Royce of a right-back”, the 25-year-old has played the full 90 minutes in all six of his AFC Totton appearances to date, which have resulted in five wins and Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Bideford AFC, in The Stags’ first match since Boxing Day due to the recent poor weather conditions.

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FAMILY AFFAIR: Stags midfielder Freddie Read (left) and his older brother Benny are brothers in arms in Jimmy Ball's AFC Totton first team squad.

COMING IN FOR THE INJURED LEWIS NOICE, experienced goalkeeper Charlie Searle made his AFC Totton debut in Devon at the weekend, having initially joined the club on a dual registration deal from The Hawks, where he was also a Goalkeeping Coach.

The 37-year-old came through the ranks at Havant & Waterlooville before spending two season-long loans working under Steve Claridge at Salisbury, the first of them in 2015/16 and the second in 2017/18. In between those two stints at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, Searle spent 93 days on loan with AFC Totton in the Southern League Div.1 South & West, returning to Havant in February 2017.

He joined Bognor Regis Town in the summer of 2019, moving on again the following season to Wessex League Premier Division side Baffins Milton Rovers, during the period in which all non-league football competition was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Searle re-joined Havant & Waterlooville in the summer of 2021, enabling him to move back into the ranks of a full-time professional club, where he also operated as Goalkeeping Coach while studying for his coaching badges. In his only first team performance for The Hawks during the current 2022/23 season, he kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 home victory over Hemel Hempstead in early-November.

After an agreement was reached between the two clubs and the player himself this week, Searle has now confirmed his departure from Westleigh Park to join Jimmy Ball’s squad on a permanent basis, as The Stags look to take advantage of a promising first half of the season by continuing their challenge for promotion to Step 3, come the month of May.

Both Benny Read and Charlie Searle will be available to play against Frome Town tonight (Tuesday), after the Snows Stadium pitch passed an inspection at 3:00pm this afternoon. Kick-off is at 7:45pm.


By Ben Rochey-Adams

Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography

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