O’Connor, aptly nicknamed “OC”, joins as the Club’s third signing after the arrival of Ollie Clark and Adam Collin either side of the most recent lockdown, and comes with an enviable goal record.

The 37-year-old started his career at Ilkeston Town before a move to Scunthorpe United in the Football League followed, making three league appearances during his time at Glanford Park.

Spells in non-league, with Nuneaton Borough, Grays Athletic and Gresley Rovers - where he scored 73 times in 99 league appearances - preceded time at Mansfield Town and Rushden & Diamonds, spending two years in Northamptonshire, tallying 24 goals.

He then moved to Luton Town in 2011 and onto Newport County, Forest Green Rovers, Stevenage and joined Kettering Town in 2016, where he scored twice against Basford in an FA Cup Third Qualifying Round tie at Greenwich Avenue a year later.

During his four years with the Poppies, O’Connor scored 59 times in 116 games.

A long-time target for boss Steve Chettle, his signing will go down well with locals of Basford; born just around the corner from where he’ll now call home.

Commenting, Chettle said: “Aaron has been with us throughout pre-season and we’ve always been aware of his reputation as a goalscorer. He is a player I’ve enquired about in the past, but he’s always been playing at higher levelled clubs.

“I met and spoke with Aaron during the off-season and invited him to do a pre-season with us and it gave him an opportunity to train, with a view to joining us for the upcoming campaign.

“He started back with the rest of the squad recently but picked up a slight ankle injury that set his pre-season preparations back a little,” Chettle added. “But he has worked hard on his rehabilitation and made his first appearance in a Basford shirt at our in-house game last Saturday.

“He had 45 minutes in that, trained really well in the week and really showed his quality during both sessions. He will be involved at Nuneaton on Saturday and has certainly put himself in contention for the league opener against Scarborough.

“Aaron joins a good group of strikers, with a great blend of experience and youth, and they will certainly push each other ahead of the season.”

On signing with the club, O’Connor said: “I’m delighted to be here at Basford and it’s nice to be able to get it done and dusted. The move nearly happened a couple of times over the last few years, so to finally get it done is great.

“I’m a Basford boy. I’ve spoken to Steve and Chris (Chairman, Munroe) and know fully what they’ve been doing here over the last however many years it’s been and the project that they’re building, so I wanted to jump on board with that and get the club where it wants to go.

“It came out the blue this time around, to be honest,” O’Connor added.

“I was close to joining a couple of other clubs, or at least on the verge of making a decision with them, and then I got a message asking if I wouldn’t mind coming in to speak with Basford and Chetts, which I was happy to do.

“And then from there, as soon as I came in and watched the Mickleover game, I was impressed with what I saw and the way Basford play football – I think it suits my style of play.

“I told Steve that, too, and that was it – I knew this is where I wanted to be.”

O’Connor will be available for the weekend’s friendly against former club Nuneaton Borough on Saturday, as well as the opening Northern Premier League fixture against Scarborough Athletic a week later (14 August).