It is with deep sadness that we must report that Brian Stone, former Banbury Spencer and Banbury United player and former trainer, manager and chairman of Banbury United has passed away at the age of 88.

Brian played at centre-half and joined Banbury Spencer as a teenager in 1952, progressing through the junior and reserve sides to be given his first team debut in a home Tillotson Cup game against Rugby Town, at the age of just 20, on Tuesday 27th April 1954.

Brian would play a lot of reserve team football whilst at Spencer, as well as have a spell with Easington Sports, but up until the end of season 1964/65, at which point the club changed its name from Spencer to United, he had clocked up a total of 92 first team Spencer appearances.

The early days of Banbury United would see Brian have a trainer role at the club, but he would still turn out as a player when needed, making a further 21 first team appearances between seasons 1965/66 and 1967/68. When manager Johnny Crichton resigned in October 1971, Brian was asked to take over the manager’s job on a caretaker basis, a role that would become permanent the following month.

Brian would have eight years as Banbury United manager, the highlights being FA Cup First Round appearances against Barnet and Northampton Town in 1972/73 and 1973/74 respectively, the latter season taking the Football League Division Four side to a replay after drawing at the Spencer Stadium.

Despite, after eight games of season 1979/80, sitting in second place in the table, Brian resigned as manager of Banbury United in October 1979, claiming that “the enjoyment had gone” and that with the club at the top end of the league that it was the right time to go.
Obituary – Brian Stone

However, this was not to be the end of Brian Stone’s involvement with Banbury United Football Club. In the summer of 1984, Brian would rescue the club, taking on a football advisor role to Chairman Mike Townley after the club had days before announced that they were closing down due to financial difficulties. Six months later, with the club facing winding up orders, Brian would acquire the club from Townley and take on the Chairman’s role, a position he would hold until relinquishing the post in the summer of 1989.

Brian would continue to take an interest in the football club and was a welcome attendee at a “Former Players Day” event held at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium in March 2019.

The club would like to send their sincere condolences to Brian’s family at this difficult time.

Photos below show Brian Stone, holding aloft the Oxfordshire Professional Cup and Shaw & Kilburn Floodlit Trophy won by the club in season 1977/78 and Brian Stone (on the left) with Tony Jacques and Jim Cassidy at a Former Players Day in March 2019