Former Bristol Rovers midfielder Ed Upson has dropped down four divisions to return to his boyhood club Stowmarket Town in the Isthmian League North Division.
Upson spent last season at League Two Stevenage but after his contract at the Lamex Stadium wasn’t extended, the 32-year-old has elected to return to Suffolk where he began his career as a teenager.
Upson played for Stowmarket as a schoolboy and was part of the Ipswich Town academy, famously scoring the winner in the 2005 FA Youth Cup final when he was just 15.
Rovers were one of seven permanent clubs the midfielder has called home over his career, which has now come full circle with the move to East Anglia.
“Ed played for Stow in his youth many moons ago so that’s a nice part of this,” manager Paul Musgrove told Suffolk News. “We got speaking through a couple of contacts a few weeks ago and it just evolved from there.
"He’s going to be a real leader for us, especially with all of his experience. His game management, his know-how and things like – it will only drive us forward.”
Upson made 121 appearances for the Gas over three seasons under Darrell Clarke, Graham Coughlan, Ben Garner, Paul Tisdale and Joey Barton before his release at the Mem last summer.
Stowmarket finished fourth in the Isthmian North last season, reaching the play-offs but failing to secure promotion to Isthmian Premier Division which leads into the National League South.
