James Alabi
WE DID IT!!!!
Alabi steals the points in the 94th minute 😍#WeAreUnited | #UTP pic.twitter.com/RpXYJREIb6— Banbury United FC (@BanburyUnitedFC) August 25, 2025
On paper, I could see this. 17 goals in 42 games for Chester, Alabi was young and had previous experience in the EFL, albeit briefly with Scunthorpe. He’d been at Grimsby as well, so when we were linked with him, it felt like it had legs.
It didn’t. Danny Cowley dismissed it offhand, and rather than a Football League move, Alabi went to Tranmere, where he failed to score in nine outings.
He did step back into the league, briefly, with Leyton Orient in 2019/20, and up to 2024/25 had added 19 league goals to the 17 he bagged in a single season with Chester.