Chelmsford Chieftains player-coach Gary Clarke is delighted to announce a further addition to the Chieftains roster in the form of former Oxford City Stars favourite and captain Darren Elliott.

Clarke said about the signing:
"Right from the summer I have wanted to run a bench with 10 forwards as I feel the depth of 10 forwards is very vital when running 3 line hockey for many reasons. A player may get injured, break equipment need to serve a long penalty and so on and we need to ensure we have enough cover. Running with 9 forwards can cause disruption and affect momentum especially at the tempo of hockey we like to play when one is sitting out. No one likes to see teams folding at any time and believe me when I say I am sorry and disappointed that Oxford will not be part of the ENL1 any more, however I cannot deny that I am delighted to be able to strengthen our squad for the remainder of the season on our quest for silverware. Darren had been approached by many teams within the league and it is a huge compliment that he has decided to join us. Darren is fully aware of the situation in Chelmsford in that we have 9 very strong forwards all playing well and he will join the team as 10th forward and fight for his place within the roster. What this does mean is that we now have more depth and more options available to us. Most of all it provides us with healthy competition amongst the forwards which will lead to them all working that bit harder and playing better and smarter hockey within the systems we're playing. No one on the roster has a guaranteed spot and I hope this will raise the level of our play. Darren has been very committed to Oxford for many years and I know that he will be sad to leave his home town team but as that club chooses to take one direction it is only right that Darren does also. He is a very good skater who will put other teams defence under a lot of pressure. His stats clearly show that he knows how to find the back of the net and with the undoubted leadership qualities he has, I also hope that he will help bring further leadership in the room. I'm sure he will be a fan favourite at the Riverside in no time."

Darren will be making his debut for the Chieftains on Saturday in Bristol against the Pitbulls and will skate out at the Riverside for the first time as a Chieftain on Sunday evening when the return fixture takes place at 6:30pm.