City have bolstered their defence with the signing of 22-year-old centre-half Sami El-Abd, formerly of Crawley Town, Hayes & Yeading United and Team Bath.

The youngster gained a footing in Conference football with Sussex-based Crawley before joining Bath to run concurrently with a university course, making over 90 appearances in their successful team in the process. Last season he was with Hayes in the Blue Square Premier and also calls upon a spell at Lewes earlier in his career.

Meanwhile, four of the club’s contracted players signed their league registration forms at training, namely Matthew Lock, Mark Haines, John Martin and Dave Rainford. City will also be sending a young and experimental squad to face Ridgeons Eastern Counties League side Hadleigh United this Saturday, with a 3:00pm kick-off in Suffolk.

Legends Game Preparations Continue! City’s Legends Team have also been preparing themselves for their own big kick-off at 3:00pm on Sunday when they take-on an Arsenal Celebrity XI at Melbourne.

The big kick-off will be at 3:00pm, with entertainment scheduled beforehand. Proceeds will go to the Prince’s Trust’s GetIntoFootball programme, which is due to begin shortly at Melbourne in conjunction with City, and tickets are £7 for adults, £1 for kids and only £15 for a family of four. Refreshments will also be on sale to accompany the festivities.

A day of family activities is planned for the charity day, including bouncy castles, face painting, a coconut shy, stocks, hook-a-duck, whack-a-rat, a fortune telling tent, an old fashioned sweet stall, a mascot race, beat the goalie… and hopefully more! This is far from just a football game, it is a great day out for all the family. Although Arsenal are unable to any individual appearance, some of the names mentioned for their squad include: Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Tommy Walsh (Ground Force), Danny O’Shea (ex-Arsenal), Chris Whyte (ex-Arsenal) Ralf Little (Royle Family/Two Pints of Lager).

The City Legends team will include: Frank Bishop (1979-85); Peter Gillott (1959-70); Tony Butcher (1957-71); Denis Longhorn (1983-86); Kevin Foster (1983-99); Mick Tiffen (1977-91); Terry O’Donnell (1978-81); Keith Goodwin (1978-91); Ken Wigley (1977-80); Phil Thrift (1982-91); Matt Jones (1990-2004); Paul Goyette (1992); Ian Cambridge (1997-2002), Colin Johnson (1981-92), Steve Portway (2000-01), Robbie Garvey (1993-97). Manager: Mick Loughton (1970-78 as a player, 1977-84 as Manager).