AFTER rejoining the club where his career began, fan favourite Charlie Griffin says that he’s excited to get his teeth into the latest chapter of his association with Chippenham Town.

The 35-year-old striker, who began his senior career at Hardenhuish Park before stepping up to the professional game with a £10,000 move to Swindon Town in 1999, made his third debut for the Bluebirds in Saturday’s clash with Hitchin Town after returning from Gloucester City.

And Griffin, who had notched ten goals for the Tigers this term, says that he had no qualms dropping down from the Conference, particularly with the opportunity to get reacquainted to some familiar surroundings.

“Gloucester had decided that they wanted to go in a different direction and said that I was free to talk to other clubs, so I had to respect that,” said the returning Chippenham man.

“A few clubs were interested but I spoke to Mark (Collier) and the chairman (Neil Blackmore). The club is ambitious and wants to get into the Conference and I wanted to try and help.

“I’m not worried about dropping down from the Conference.

“It’s a good club and it’s not changed too much from when I was here before – it’s just that the players are different.

“There are still some familiar faces though and it’s nice to be back there.”

Griffin excelled during his second spell with Chippenham in the 2003-2004 season whilst he also featured in the Football League for Wycombe Wanderers and Stevenage, who he helped win promotion to League Two for the first time in their history in 2010.

On coming back to Chippenham, his only regret is that he won’t have the chance to play up front alongside younger brother Alan, who stepped away from the club at the end of last year due to a knee injury.

Griffin said: “From speaking to the lads in training, they were all asking how Al was and it seems like they held him in high regard.

“He was top scorer three seasons in a row and was the captain.

“It’s a shame that he had so step down but he’s been back playing a few games for Malmesbury (Victoria).

“His knee has still been hurting him but you never know what could happen next season.”

Griffin will go looking to add to his Chippenham career goals tally when the Bluebirds travel to struggling Banbury United this weekend.

Mark Collier’s men slipped to a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Hitchin Town last Saturday – their first loss at Hardenhuish Park in 2015.

Collier’s men are aiming to bounce back to winning ways against a team that are second-bottom of the table but have avoided defeat in their last two Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division outings.