Slough Town confirm Desbois exit following seven-day apprioach as Marriott steps in

Adam Desbois. Photo: Zak Rana

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Slough Town have confirmed the immediate departure of goalkeeper Adam Desbois following a seven-day approach by a National League club.

Desbois’ departure from Arbour Park was announced prior to the Rebels’ 1-0 away win at Bath City last night (Tuesday).

Alfie Marriott has been signed on loan from Watford FC as Desbois’ replacement for the remainder of the season and showed he could step into those shoes by keeping a clean sheet on debut at Twerton Park.

Player manager Scott Davies has said he’s disappointed to lose such a high calibre player, especially at this stage of the season with the Rebels pushing to finish in the top half of the National League South table. However, he knew – even when he pulled off the coup of signing him last summer – that Debois was destined to play at a higher level.

Desbois signed for the Rebels last summer thanks the relationship he’d built up with Davies over the previous season. A long lay off with an ACL tear kept him out for the entirety of the 2024/25 season but he’s been a mainstay for the Rebels this season, keeping 13 clean sheets across 42 appearances in all competitions. He was also exceptional during the Rebels’ recent run of seven wins in nine league matches.

Davies told sloughtownfc.net: “Of course we are disappointed to lose Adam at such an important time of the season, but an opportunity to move up the ladder was too big an attraction to turn down.

“With Adam being a non-contract player, a club in the National League Premier sent a seven-day approach. Adam was keen to get the move done and with non-contracted deals, there wasn’t anything that could be done to stop Adam from departing.

“We’ve acted quickly and secured another goalkeeper, who will be announced in due course.

“We thank Adam for his time at the club. His performance levels have been of high quality, and we wish him well in his next chapter.”

Slough have moved swiftly to replace him and Marriott’s performance on his debut should give fans encouragement for the remainder of the season. In the first half at Twerton Park, he pulled off one outstanding save to keep the scores level and Slough made the most of that by going on to win the game 1-0 with a lovely late finish from Wiktor Makowski.

Posting on X ahead of kick off last night, Davies said: “Delighted to bring Alfie Marriott into the group until the end of the season. Someone we’ve known about for a long time and I’m sure will do a great job for us all. Welcome on board mate.”