In this month’s blog, Spencer Reds got to know a man who has epitomised Banbury United over the last 18 months, a player who covers every blade of grass, a player who has a better first touch than Dimitar Berbatov and a player as good as Iniesta: Alex Babos. Signed on August 13th 2021 a day before the season opener of our league championship-winning season, Alex Babos has firmly created himself as a fan favourite by putting on a show everywhere he goes thus making him an integral part of the success of this Banbury team. This blog explores the story of Banbury’s number 19, through his time at Derby County, a loan spell in Spain, being a Wales U21 international and his thoughts on the red and gold army.
Born in Cheshire in August 1998, Alex states “I’ve played football for as long as I can remember” which is down to his dad and brother influencing him from a young age and having a big part in his footballing success. Every footballer’s journey into the professional game/set-up is different as some get scouted as early as 6 years old and be in the set-up right up until they earn a pro contract or some embrace the famous Sunday league setups for much longer waiting for that opportunity to impress the scouts. The two levels are chalk and cheese, from carpet pitches to mud baths, swimming pools to freezing cold damp showers, high-level UEFA Licensed coaches to a players dad running the side who always let his child take the pens, yet despite the differences, there is always hope that one day it will be you the scouts will pick. At the age of 15, Babos got his break while impressing at his local side Girton Rangers where Chris Townsend recognised the potential of the Cheshire-born player in which he was offered a trial at Derby County. Babos shone through this period in which Lee Glover the ‘Senior Professional Development Coach’ at the time and now Kettering Town gaffer liked what he saw signing him up to the Rams academy. From Girton Rangers to Derby County, Alex acknowledged the level of facilities at the rams whilst filming ‘Academy Life’ on Derby County Youtube channel, as he mentions “the facilities here are second to none, and even when we go away to places like Chelsea, Tottenham all the top clubs, Derby doesn’t fall short of that standard, with the pool, the analysis, the gym, its everything you can wish for as a young footballer.”
Alex earnt himself a two-year scholarship deal in 2014 meaning as soon as he left school, he was full-time in the academy setup. This is where he found the biggest jump as the players filter out due to the cutthroat nature of professional football. However, after doing gym work every day and all the other little things a professional does, Alex mentions that it is the first time you can notice significant changes within yourself as a person and as a footballer. This coincided with a strong u18s side pushing for promotion from Premier League 2 featuring Lewis Walker (Son of ex-England international Des Walker) and Louie Sibley who is a regular in Derby’s first team now. Alex’s fine displays on top of consistently meeting the goals set by him and the U18s coaches earned him a 2 and half year professional deal, in which the Welsh Iniesta stated “ I am over the moon to have been given a professional contract and it’s what the last four years have all been about - working towards this outcome”. With Babos ever growing in the Academy and developing into a well-rounded leader, he was showing credentials of being captain as he stepped up to the plate to mentor and take responsibility in assisting the first-year scholars whilst in his second year. This was noticed by the staff and soon Babos was named captain of the U23s. Becoming captain helped Alex bring out qualities in himself that he wouldn’t have necessarily thought he had in his locker. This added a new dimension to the way Alex sees the game as it has helped him work on his leadership skills on the pitch as off the pitch he likes to lead by example. Reflecting on his time as captain fantastic for the Rams U23s he said, “captaining derby 23s was obviously a very memorable part of my time there particularly scoring 2 at the city ground against forest in a 2-1 win”.
During his time at Derby’s Academy, Alex’s performances weren’t just recognised in-house but also by current Wales first-team boss Rob Page who was the U21 manager at the time of Babos first youth international call-up. Between October 2017 to November 2019 Alex was called up regularly to the u21s earning 7 Caps, 4 starts, 3 substitute appearances and amassing a total of 266 minutes on the pitch representing the country and nationality of his mother. During this spell, Alex cited “I was fortunate enough to play with some top players” in which he has played alongside 7 of the Wales Qatar 2022 world cup squad, Dan James, Ben Cabagno, Joe Morrell, Harry Wilson, Mark Harris, Chris Mepham, and Joe Rodon. As well as playing alongside some top players he has also faced world superstars. This occurred when Wales faced Portugal in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier vs Portugal in which the £113m Joao Felix and Liverpool superstar Diogo Jota were lucky enough to share the same turf as our Babos. Overall, AB19 states “it was obviously a great experience representing Wales and gave me some experiences I couldn’t get anywhere else”.
The 2018/19 season saw 19-year-old Alex Babos embark on a loan journey to the Basque outfit Real Union. Since 2017 Derby County and Real Union have become “football friends” as the Inbetweeners would say because both clubs have a profound love for the late Steve Bloomer. Bloomer is Derby’s record goal scorer with 330 goals and Bloomer managed Real Union to the Copa del Ray trophy fending off just the small task of Real Madrid in the final of 1924. This has meant both clubs decided to hold a game each year between the two clubs in honour of Steve Bloomer’s achievements. Derby has also used the link to send out any young prospects to get game time in men’s football in the Segundo Division B. Manifesting on his time at Real Union Alex mentioned ‘the standard was very good technically with a big emphasis on efficiency. This has aided Babos' growth today as he is technically excellent week in and week out in the National League North and not many players can match his intricate play in tight spaces. However, the Welsh Iniesta admitted embracing a new culture and living on his own was difficult but rewarding when looking back on it now as the experience was the biggest influence on the player and person he is today. Yet still, at 19 years of age, he had accepted the challenge to play abroad 914 miles away from home which most Britain-born professionals have rejected over the years with only 31 Brits to have ever played in the La Liga. This portrays how determined Babos was to keep improving himself and as a footballer as even professionals don’t want to step out of their comfort zone. Babos’ time at Derby ended in 2020 but as one door shuts another door opens as he had spells at Alfreton town and Kings Lynn, before he made a move to Andy Whings' Tramway Army.
As mentioned in the introduction, Alex signed on August 13th, 2021, a day before the season opener against money boys Stourbridge and going straight into the squad. In the second half at 1-0 down, Alex graced the Spencer stadium for the first time which he made an instant impact by collecting a second ball in the middle of the park and laid it off to Ben Acqauye who blasted it in the top corner to equalise. From then onwards, The Welsh Iniesta started 54 league games on the trot with his run coming to an end on November 5th this season away at Farsley Celtic. This shows how pivotal Babos is for Banbury in Midfield as he is an industrious midfielder always looking to press high up the pitch but doing his dirty duties in defence. When Babos signed his Pro contract at Derby he quoted “This year I’ve been fortunate to be playing regularly and it has helped with my consistency”, proving the fact that footballers need regular game time to show what they can do, and this is exactly what he has got under Andy Whing stewardship. Alex is loving his time at Banbury by expressing “it’s difficult not to enjoy playing for Banbury with the squad/staff as a whole being great people, on top of players that I’m sure will achieve great things and the football we play speaks for itself”. Alex was one of these players who has achieved great things in the puritan faithful eyes as his consistent performances helped Banbury become Step 3 champions for the first time in our history. Alex was the unsung hero last year, but the fan's love on the terraces was always there and especially with the @Townendreds loves to mention “Alex Babos can walk on water”. His unsung hero status however has since evaporated this season as you can always hear “Viva la Babos” being chanted home and away getting the vocal recognition he deserves. Since Promotion to the National League North, Alex has relished the step up and is enjoying being back at the level he has spent most of his youth career. This has been noticeable in November as Alex Babos has notched 3 goals in 4 games and has made a formidable midfield partnership with Giorgio Rasulo.
Alex balances his semi-professional football career with work, as by day he works in a head office in Nottingham for a security company and by the weekend turns into the Welsh Iniesta. With the demands of travel plus a congested fixture list, Alex is very fortunate that the bosses are really good at letting him work his hours around his football and are very supportive. Alex comes across as a laid-back character who is just loving his football at the moment so when asked about any career aspirations he quoted “I’m enjoying taking one game at a time and not looking too far ahead, whatever happens, happens. Overall, Banbury is very lucky to have a player like Alex on the books and I speak for all the fans on the terrace it’s a joy to watch Alex put on a show everywhere he goes.
Thank you for taking the time in reading this and supporting my blogs, please like share, Rt and comment with your thoughts as I love the interactions with you all. Secondly, I would love to share my Gratitude with Alex for his cooperation and engagement with this blog.
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Spencer Reds.
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