62-time Newcastle forward returns to football after 20-month absence

Former Newcastle United striker Nile Ranger has returned to football after signing for Southern League side Kettering Town.

Now 33, Ranger has been without a club since January 2023 and hasn’t played a competitive game since coming off the bench in Boreham Wood’s 2-0 defeat to Everton in the FA Cup fifth round in March 2022.

Ranger previously had two spells at Southend United, the first of which ended due to disciplinary issues.

The striker has already played his first game for Kettering in their 2-1 win over St Ives Town in the seventh tier on Monday.

“It was his first game, he hadn’t met the lads. He’s come in out of the cold, he’s not played for a while,” Kettering manager Richard Lavery told BBC Radio Northampton.

“You could see in the first half he was rusty, in the second half he turned up.

“There’s a lot more to come from him, he hasn’t played at those levels for nothing, has he?”

Ex-Newcastle talent Ranger returns to football

Ranger is something of a football nomad, turning out for the likes of Swindon Town, Blackpool Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday in the past with mixed success.

However, he’s most famous for coming through the Newcastle United youth system and playing 62 times for the Magpies at senior level.

Ranger struggled to adjust to senior football and registered just three goals and four assists for Newcastle after initially showing immense promise — including a record of six goals in 11 caps for England’s U19s, who he helped reach the 2009 European U19 Championship final.

Kettering are currently seventh in the Southern League, with 11 points on the board after seven games.

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