Stacey Long has taken a significant drop in wages to re-sign for Ebbsfleet, says boss Steve Brown

Saturday 08th June 2013

EBBSFLEET UNITED manager Steve Brown has pulled off a transfer coup –by enticing midfielder Stacey Long back to Stonebridge Road.

Long, 28, was a member of the Kent club’s 2008 FA Trophy winning team, returns to a club close to his heart despite attention from League One and League Two managers following his release from League Two side AFC Wimbledon at the end of last season.

“I am delighted to be coming back to Stonebridge Road,” Long told www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk.

“I had a great experience here last time – obviously winning the Trophy at Wembley was the highlight for me – but overall it was a fantastic time and I hope to do the same under Steve Brown and achieve great things again.”

Fleet boss Brown, who has a playing budget of £8,000 per week and a transfer kitty of £100,000, said: “I would like to thank Stacy for taking such a significant drop in wages to fit into our wage cap structure and rejecting better offers from League clubs to return to Ebbsfleet United. He has bought into the vision and ambition I have for this club and I am delighted to have him on board.”

Long was most recently at AFC Wimbledon, where he played more than 30 games but had most success at Stevenage, the club he joined after his first spell at Ebbsfleet. Under Graham Westley, he enjoyed another (albeit unsuccessful) trip to the FA Trophy Final, a Conference Premier championship medal, a League Two play-off final victory at Old Trafford – plus the experience of scoring in a FA Cup defeat of Newcastle United.

His most regular run of games, however, came in his first spell at Stonebridge Road, having signed for Gravesend & Northfleet in 2006, helping to propel the side to the brink of the play-offs in the Conference Premier that season.

The following year his 15 goals from midfield helped the Fleet to FA Trophy success at Wembley and he was part of the team that almost repeated the feat a year later, before his move to Stevenage in the summer of 2009.

He began his career at Charlton, even playing in a youth side managed by Fleet vice chairman Peter Varney, and also played for Notts County.

As a youth player, he represented England at every level from U16 (where he was Wayne Rooney’s skipper) to U20 and also won an England C cap while at Stonebridge Road.

Long’s existing Fleet record includes more than 130 appearances in a three-year spell and 23 goals.

Visit Ebbsfleet United’s website: www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk