Oxford City Stars have received a quadruple boost after defencemen James Clarke, Sam Arnold, Tom Avery and Jake Florey put pen to paper and will be icing in Englaish National League South Division 1 in September.

Clarke, 37, is a Stars stalwart, having completed 14 seasons at Oxford.

Last season’s skipper, he is in the running again this season, with the club expected to announce the captaincy later in the summer.

Florey, 20, will again be playing alongside his older brother, Josh, at Oxpens Road.

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Despite his age, Jake already has eight seasons of hockey behind him, having started out for the Oxford Junior Stars Under 16s in 2007.

He was an ever-present fixture of the side last season, taking to the ice 33 times.

Arnold, 21, began with the Junior Stars in 2007 and broke into senior side in the championship winning side in 2012-13.

A tough competitor, he made the jump up to the top division of the National League quite comfortably, also featuring 33 times for the Stars.

Head coach Simon Anderson is delighted Clarke is staying.

He said: “Clarkey is a great guy to have around the locker room: always smiling and really positive.

“He had a really strong second half to the season. I thought he became one of our better players and helped us achieve our goal of staying up.”