Jacob Bancroft
Jacob Elijah McLeod Bancroft is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Leatherhead.
Having spent time at Aldershot Town on youth terms, Bancroft joined Swindon Town's academy in 2015. He made his professional debut for the club four years later and subsequently signed his first professional contract in May 2019. Three loan spells in the Southern Football League followed during the 2019–20 season, although Bancroft was ultimately released upon his return to Swindon in June 2020. He joined Oxford City of the National League South in September 2020. Bancroft signed for League Two club Stevenage in January 2021. He spent the remainder of the 2020–21 season there before rejoining Oxford City in July 2021.
Career
Swindon Town
Bancroft began his career in the youth system at Aldershot Town, before joining Swindon Town's academy in 2015, aged fifteen. Whilst in the final year of his scholarship at Swindon, Bancroft made his first-team debut as a late substitute for the club in a 3–0 victory over Colchester United at the County Ground on 2 March 2019. Swindon subsequently offered Bancroft his first professional contract at the end of the 2018–19 season, which he signed on 9 May 2019.Bancroft played in two of Swindon's pre-season friendly matches ahead of the 2019–20 season, one of which included him scoring in a 6–1 victory over Salisbury on 15 July 2019. Two weeks later, he joined Salisbury on a loan agreement until January 2020. Having made four appearances for Salisbury during the first three months of his time there, the loan deal was cut short and Bancroft joined Thatcham Town of the Southern League Division One South on 15 November 2019. He played three times for the club during the one-month loan agreement before returning Swindon. A third loan of the season followed when Bancroft joined Southern League Division One Central club Wantage Town on 16 February 2020 on a one-month deal. Bancroft made two appearances at Wantage before the season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was released by Swindon in June 2020.