JOSH Florey has been appointed as the new captain of the Oxford City Stars – by the club legend he is replacing.

Darren Elliott, who retired at the end of last season, selected his replacement as part of his new role as assistant coach.

He decided Florey should take charge of the armband, with Joe Edwards, Dax Hedges and Alex Staples named as his assistants.

Stars host Bracknell Hornets in their opening clash of the National League South Division 1 season on Sunday.

And Florey is looking forward to the new campaign.

“It’s an honour to be made captain of the Stars, my hometown club,” he said.

“I’m brimming with pride.

“I’m taking over from Oxford legend and good friend Darren Elliott, so I’ve got huge boots to fill.

“It’s going to be a massive learning curve for me, but it’s an opportunity I feel ready for.”

He added: “With the assistants that have been picked it really could have been any one of us, so I am delighted I got the nod.

“I believe we will work well together as a leadership group to get the best out of each other.”

Darren Elliott said: “Josh has been given the ‘C’ as I see a lot of similarities between him and myself.

“He is great in the room, takes on all the little tasks off the ice and puts in time with the junior set-up.

“He is a great team guy, willing to do what is right by the team and I have every faith he will be a superb leader for the Stars.”

He added: “I chose Dax and Joey as they are long-serving players and products of the club.

“They know what is needed and required to be an ‘A’, put the team first and will do a great job.

“Alex has a lot of experience having come from a good club.

“Any of these guys could have been given either of the roles and it wasn’t an easy decision. I’m sure they will all fulfil the positions and more.”

Stars warmed up for the new season with a double-header challenge match against London Raiders.

Despite suffering 6-3 and 7-3 defeats, head coach Simon Anderson felt getting the new-look team together was important.

“They weren’t the results we wanted, but considering we had only practiced three times this season I thought that the performance levels were acceptable,” he said.

“We have a lot of new players trying to get to know one another off the ice as well as on it and that is going to take time.”

He added: “I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the players executed the systems put in place.

“With the work this group of players put in it will not take long to come together.”