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billy gilbert / steve tate / jason lovell Billy Gilbert first came into my life around about 1993 when he, alongside long-standing pal Vince Hilaire, took over as joint-managersof the old ‘Ville club following the sacking of Ernie Bradwell. ‘Ville were out of the FA Cup and Trophy and staring relegation in the face at the foot of the Southern Premier. Under the new management team, ‘Ville shot up the table to eventually finish 11th. Next season they underachieved to be relegated to the Southern Division. To be fair, an unusual amount of postponements meant an unmanageable amount of games squeezed into the last fortnight. By now Billy was on his own, and ‘Ville were always skint. However, over the next two years I witnessed some breathtaking footy against all the odds. ‘Ville finished fourth, then third, and at the time it felt like we’d blown it. On reflection it was an amazing achievement for Billy to even mount a challenge. Even before we’d missed out the second time, Billy was told he’d have to cut the wage bill for the following season come what may. If ‘Ville had achieved promotion after either of these two seasons we would have been absolutely slaughtered week in week out in the Premier. I say that without any reservations whatsoever. We used to start like a train, but we only had eleven players and very good they were too. I don’t wish to sound disrespectful to players that came in and certainly gave their all to the lost cause, but when we had to draft in patched up replacements it was men against boys. The next two seasons saw us flirt with relegation to the Wessex League before Billy guided us to mid-table, still playing some very attractive stuff. We then scraped enough dosh together to buy Shovell from Bashley, and he became a ‘Ville hero and subsequently a Hawk legend. Then came the controversial merger. I can remember some of Billy’s quotes at the first meeting of the club as people bitched about shirt colours and the like. Inspirational stuff like “you can have whatever colour shirts you like, it’s the players inside them that counts”. Billy was under tremendous pressure to succeed. Rival clubs in the local area were sadly willing H&W to fall flat on our collective faces. With the support he now enjoyed Billy put together an excellent squad full of flair and steel to win promotion in cavalier fashion in our inaugural season. We started badly last season but we knew it would be difficult. We then rallied with some great results top at one stage climb to ninth in the table. Then it all went wrong with the Guvnor attempting to cope with a serious family illness and keep his eye on the ball at the same time. For approximately six weeks we were a rabble, losing to Hastings in the Southern League Cup semi-final and free-falling down the table. After a disastrous 4-1 defeat at Dorchester in a vital relegation battle, something had to be done. The Guvnor was suspended from footy duties with three games to go, and Mick Jenkins and Liam Daish were givent he task of preventing the unthinkable drop back into the Eastern Division. We won the lot and scrambled to the dizzy heights of twelfth. Now what could our hierarchy do? Say “Thanks very much Mick and Liam but The Guvnor’s back in charge”? Basically, it was a no-win situation. The cruel irony is that when Billy had to work with a poverty of resources – even when Weymouth came in for him – he stayed loyal to the cause. Yet when he, at last, had decent financial support the twists of fate conspired against him. As always this article is written from memory. If you’re concerned with factual dates either get yerself a Rothman’s Year Book, or if you’re really desperate have a chat with Ketchup over a vile-smelling pint of real-ale. With sincere thanks and best wishes to the Guvnor. Ade GONE IS THE KING OF NEW WEST LEIGH Steve Tate is now part of our history after his transfer to Weymouth. He rang me on Friday 3rd December 1999 (the day he signed) asking me to pass on his thanks to the fans of Havant Town, Waterlooville and especially H&W for their support over the last ten years. I thought that was a lovbely touch and typical of the man who was always a fans player. I first came into conatct with him, literally, when he scored on his debut for ‘Looville after six minutes against Burton Albion and I smothered him in lager-fuelled kisses, back in November 1993. That was in the Premier Division and that campaign ended in relegation and 9 goals in 27 appearances for Steve. At first our relationship was purely confined to celebrating his goals, but I gradually got to know him and found him to be charming if a little moody, which was the sensitive artiste coming out in him. The following four seasons saw Steve weigh in with 28, 28, 25 & 27 goals respectively in the Southern Division. Sincere apologies as I’ve done nothing on Steve’s time with Havant Town. I do know that he was also a prolific scorer for Havant. I’ve seen Stevie operate with several strike partners over the years, the two that spring to mind are Neil Selby and his minder, Shovell. He also had a good run with Woody last season and several years ago a partnership with Dave Milkins. Last season Steve weighed in with 31 goals for H&W as he at last got his hands on a Southern Division Championship medal. An injury in our pre-season friendly with Brighton made things very difficult for Steve with James Taylor and Nicky Wyatt on fire the chance of a move closer to home must have appealed. After his first few games Steve’s of the opinion that he can forge a more than useful partnership with Terras striker David Laws. On Monday 3rd January 2000, he weighed in with his first goal for Weymouth, scoring the winner against Salisbury City in front of his new home crowd. Anyway, thanks for all the great times and great goals, Stevie. Ade WHEN HE SCORED A GOAL, HE SHOWED US HIS SHOVEL, OOOOOOH JASON LOVELL! The charismatic figure of terrace hero Jason Lovell will no longer be wearing the shirt of H&Dub following his summer move to Bournemouth Poppies. As I loved him with a passion I’ve been asked to ‘do a bit on him’. It’s all by memory – dates and all that are approximate. Statistics are the territory of the ordinary people, not for legends such as Jason. I suppose I first became aware of him when he played for Salisbury in their Southern Division Championship season. I was watching the old ‘Looville side and this fearsome, cropped thug was single-handedly destroying us. Imagine my delight when he signed for us before the start of the 1996-97 season. I remember Stevie Tate saying to me “You wait ‘til you see me playing with my new minder”. Not that Jase was an immediate success, far from it. Many fans said that the two of them simply couldn’t play together. His touch wasn’t there and he just seemed to mooch around, looking totally out of it. My cac soccer punditry is famed but for once I’m pleased to say I got it right when travelling back from a 2-2 midweek draw at Fisher I announced to my carload of pals that Jason would come good and some of the best striking partnerships take time to gel. Four Shovell goals in a 5-1 HSC romp at New Milton, then everything seemed to click. Stevie and Jase got it together, Jase eventually finishing with 19 goals from forty-six games. Jase had an amazing knack of smacking in first-time volleys from 25 metres with his kind of lazy effortless nonchalance. Whereas, two minutes earlier, he’d blazed over the bar from a metre out in frontof an unguarded goal. The following season he weighed in with twenty from thirty-nine games and also scored a few whilst on loan to Fisher. I was distraught while he was at Fisher. As usual, ‘financial reasons’ were behind the deal. All was well, though, as I was dead chuffed when he turned up at the beginning of season do and told me he’d already agreed terms for the coming season with our newly merged club. As we fans got to know Jason, he entertained us with his hilarious tales of life in Ferndown and his footy career so far. He also displayed an enormous talent for poncing lager and fags (‘four-star’ and ‘lung-busters’ in Jasespeak). In last season’s championship campaign, Jase wighed in with 21goals in 33 games and eleven appearances as sub. He often came off the bench to score vital game-clinching goals, as in away to Dartford and Brackley. Jason’s last goal for the club was, for me at least, the goal that secured promotion. 2-1 up at home to a very determined Andover, we were looking very edgy before Jase buried a header to kill them off. The three seasons Jase spent at ‘Looville/Havant & ‘Looville were the longest he spent at any one club. It is my belief that he discovered his ideal club ten years too late, but that’s life. At Salisbury’s end-of-season Championship do, Jason barked all over the dance floor following a lethal cocktail of red wine and exotic tobacco. This may explain why he didn’t hang about there too long. Still, it’s one way of laying out the red carpet. The legend has moved on but the memories remain. Ade back to index |