AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball is preparing for the club’s first-ever season in National League South with the arrivals of Northern Ireland international Lee Hodson, Swansea City and Watford youth player Christos Batzelis, Ipswich Town youth player Malachi Linton, and former Wycombe Wanderers player Christie Ward
AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball’s preparations for the club’s first-ever season in National League South are gathering pace with many arrivals and departures.
Northern Ireland international Lee Hodson, who last played for his country in 2018, is an eye-catching arrival, while Ethan Taylor has left the club despite two contract offers.
Taylor, AFC Totton’s play-off final-winning goal-scorer, has decided to call time on his Snows Stadium tenure after more than 200 appearances.
“Ethan has been an important player for us over the last few years,” commented Stags’ boss, Jimmy Ball. “He has contributed a lot to the success we’ve achieved. I was keen to keep him as we move up to the National League South, but despite making a couple of revised offers to the player and his representative, we were unable to persuade them that Ethan’s immediate football future lies with us.
“So, he’ll be moving on over the course of this summer. Wherever he decides to play his football next season, that team will have signed themselves an excellent young player who I have very much enjoyed working with, and I wish him every success in the rest of his football career.”
The 24-year-old winger – whose father James played for the club from 2008 to 2010, and younger brother Leo was a regular in last season’s U23s team – was still a teenager when he made his AFC Totton debut in September 2020.
He made his Southern League Division One South bow at home to Bideford a fortnight later and only had to wait another four days to score his first AFC Totton goal at Willand Rovers.
His pace on the wing, ability to pick out teammates with pinpoint crosses and a keen eye for goal saw Taylor quickly establish himself as a first-team regular.
Taylor celebrated his 200th AFC Totton before taking his goals tally for the season to 15 with the all-important winner that defeated Gloucester City in the play-off final in May 2025 to secure Step 2 football for the first time in The Stags’ 139-year history.
That historic encounter took Ethan Taylor’s AFC Totton record to a total of 204 appearances in all competitions, scoring 80 goals.
Utility man Lee Hodson has agreed to join AFC Totton ahead of the 2025/26 season, along with young defender Christos Batzelis, former Ipswich Town youth player Malachi Linton, and 21-year-old former Wycombe Wanderers and Brockenhurst player Christie Ward.
Hodson, a versatile 33-year-old who can play in either full-back position or anywhere across the midfield, has represented Northern Ireland at U19, U21, and senior levels, with 24 caps for the international side.
On the departure side of things, Charlie Kennedy, who captained the side multiple times and won the Manager’s Player of the Year award in 2023/24, is looking for a new club, as are Tom Blair and Adam Tomasso.
