Old has been training with the club for a couple of months and is now reported to have signed on, just days before he is set to blow out the candles on his 26th birthday cake.
The 1.91m centre back becomes the second Kiwi to have been on the books of Basingstoke – striker and former New Zealand U-20 teammate Greg Draper is the other – and manager Frank Gray is delighted to have snapped up a full international.
“Steven is a very good player,” he says.
“We did not think we had much chance of signing him because he has been trialling higher up but he picked up a knock, which set him back.”
Town are still waiting for international clearance as Old’s last club was Scottish outfit Kilmarnock but if that comes through in time the new arrival could line up against Salisbury City on Tuesday night.
“He’s fully fit now and looking to get some games, so we have signed him on a non-contract basis and he could well be involved against Salisbury.”
Palmerston North-born Old captained his country at U-17 level before moving on to the U-20 and U-23 sides, appearing at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
He played in the A-League for the Newcastle Jets and the Phoenix before trying his luck in Scotland. He spent three seasons with Kilmarnock but made only a handful of appearances and was loaned out to lower league Cowdenbeath in 2010 before being released last May.
He has 17 All Whites caps to his name but has not featured for Ricki Herbert’s side since a 2-1 pre-Confederations Cup loss to Tanzania in 2009, although he was called up as an injury-replacement for a friendly against Mexico in the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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