Beveree Chat

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
July 3rd 2003

Alan Devonshire

Alan Devonshire appeared in ‘The Chronicle’ on 3rd July 2003 as the 2003/04 season approached having not long been appointed Manager of HRBFC. Dev inherited very few players from the previous season’s squad; Alan Inns, Dudley Gardner & Enrico Grimm – the cupboard was somewhat bare.
The previous season Dev had been manager at Maidenhead United, and, by the beginning of July he had recruited a number of players including Paul Kelly, Craig Webster & Andy Morley – all from Maidenhead! During the season Hampton’ s new look team could have fielded 11 ex- Magpies and had one on the bench so great was the number of players that followed Dev to Beveree Stadium.
It all worked out well for the Beavers as, at the end of the season,they finished high enough in Isthmian (Ryman) League’s Division 1 (South) to gain promotion to the re-organised Premier Division.


The Old Historian

Remember Dev joining as manager, it was more common then for managers to bring in a lot of players from their previous clubs.
Certainly it was an excellent appointment and over the years he has proved to be an great manager.

Probably my favourite period of following Hampton. As a boyhood West Ham fan I was ecstatic to see Dev appointed. It wasn't always the prettiest football but my goodness we always looked hard to beat.

I really enjoyed the 2003/04 season, the start of a golden era. The drop down to Isthmian Division One (South) presented me with lots of new and localish grounds to visit (Merland Rise twice, Imperial Fields, Stag Meadow twice, Larges Lane..)

With 24 sides in the division and more cup fixtures than the previous season it felt like a busy schedule, although as Lord Elpus reminds us it wasn't always pretty to watch. Inparticular I remember Egham Town visiting on a Tuesday night and their fans, who travelled in good number having attended the funeral of a supporter that day, making a good racket in the Simpson Stand for 90 minutes. The other big highlight aside from promotion at Leatherhead on the final day was of course beating Ks in the FA Cup - goals from Inns and Allen (I think?). Lance Key was in goal for Kingston and Stafford Browne may have scored their opener?

TW2-Beaver wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 8:19 pm I really enjoyed the 2003/04 season, the start of a golden era. The drop down to Isthmian Division One (South) presented me with lots of new and localish grounds to visit (Merland Rise twice, Imperial Fields, Stag Meadow twice, Larges Lane..)

With 24 sides in the division and more cup fixtures than the previous season it felt like a busy schedule, although as Lord Elpus reminds us it wasn't always pretty to watch. Inparticular I remember Egham Town visiting on a Tuesday night and their fans, who travelled in good number having attended the funeral of a supporter that day, making a good racket in the Simpson Stand for 90 minutes. The other big highlight aside from promotion at Leatherhead on the final day was of course beating Ks in the FA Cup - goals from Inns and Allen (I think?). Lance Key was in goal for Kingston and Stafford Browne may have scored their opener?

Allen & O'Connor were our scorers. Lance Key was their keeper, Scott Steele scored Ks goal 10 minutes from time, Stafford Browne had a couple of chances with headers. All the goals came in the second half.