National League South side AFC Totton having consolidated their position in their first season in the 6th tier of English football, now seem to want to push on and their latest signing confirms this.

AFC Totton have confirmed that former Southampton winger Josh Sims has put pen to paper on a deal to play for The Stags in the coming season.

They describe the arrival of Sims as one of the highest profile signings in the club's history, second only to Charlie Austin two years ago.

Coincidentally when Sims made his debut for Saints in November 2016, he provided the assist for Austin to score the winner in that game.

Sims would go on to make 20 Premier League appearances for Saints, plus another 7 in Cup competitions including an appearance in the Europa League.

Perhaps his greatest moment for Saints aside from his debut, would have been Anfield in January 2017, when in the final minutes of the League Cup semi final 2nd leg with Saints hanging desperately clinging on to a 1-0 lead from the first leg, he picked up the ball as it was cleared from a Liverpool corner, made a superb mazy run followed by a defence splitting through ball for Shane Long to put the tie beyond doubt with a clinical finish.

Those that were lucky enough to be there that night consider it to be one of the greatest moments of their Southampton supporting lives, it just meant something special.

But if Sims thought that after a superb first season breakthrough, that he would become a regular, he would be proved wrong, the following season saw him make just 7 appearances, 6 of them in the Premier League.

He went on loan to Reading in August 2018 but was recalled by Saints in January 2019, but his few games for club after this recall would be his last and he would have a series of loans before being released on a free transfer in the summer of 2021.

He never seemed to capture that magical form of his first season and has gradually dropped down the football pyramid in the last 5 years, spending the last two years at Yeovil in the National League, a division above AFC Totton.

Now still only 29 years old he joins The Stags and hopefully will excel at a level that should be well within his capabilities.

All Photos Via Reuters