They`ve Played For Your Club…..Gosport Borough

Continuing the series on players who have represented the current clubs in the Southern Football League.

Gosport have endured a very mixed 77 years since being formed just before the end of the Second World War.

They were a major force in the Hampshire League, winning it in its first season but then not being able to repeat that feat until 1974.

They won the Hampshire League once again in 1976/77 and 77/78 and this time took the plunge to join the Southern League.

They spent fourteen seasons in the Southern and Premier Divisions before hitting the buffers in 1992 when they suffered relegation down to the Wessex League.

It took Boro fifteen seasons to return to the Southern League in 2007 and their amazing story stretched the imagination by winning a place in the Conference South as well as having a dream Wembley trip for the 2013/14 FA Trophy Final where they were beaten by Cambridge United.

They fell straight through back into the Southern League in 2017.

Gosport have had some excellent players donning the white shirts over the years, stretching right back to their early days when future internationals such as Scotland`s Jimmy Scoular and England`s Peter Harris started their playing days with them after WW2.

Gareth Williams remains as Gosport`s record sale at £30,000.

However, it could all have been much different had things worked out differently after he signed as an apprentice with Southend United, managed then by the legendary Bobby Moore.

But Williams (pictured) became homesick and left to return home to the Isle of Wight where he signed for his local side Whitecroft Barton in the Island League.

He then stepped up a level with Hampshire League side East Cowes Vics.

They were then the top team on the Island and in those days had a prolific front three of Steve Greening, Mark Deacon and Williams.

The Vics’ team always attracted the scouts, so it was no real surprise when Southern League Gosport travelled over the Solent to sign him.

With Gosport playing in a higher level and playing further afield, Williams was spotted by several scouts, including both local giants Southampton and Portsmouth as well as Liverpool and Leicester City.

But it was Aston Villa who won the race for his signature and he jumped at his second chance of Football League soccer.

He joined Villa in January 1988 and hit 9 goals in 15 reserve appearances in the Central League.

They gave him a first-team chance in a televised friendly against French champions Monaco — a team which contained the likes of Glenn Hoddle and former Pompey striker, Mark Hateley. Villa won and he scored in front of millions of viewers.

Williams made his Football League debut against Crystal Palace in front of 19,000 at Selhurst Park.

But his appearances were limited due to a few injury problems and he was sold to Barnsley for £150,000.

He went on to play for Hull City, Northampton Town and Scarborough to notch up another 200 League games, with a career goal tally of 40.

Williams moved back into non-League football for a few years with the likes of Ilkeston Town, Gainsborough Trinity and Matlock Town and then went on to manage the latter until 2008.

Although goalkeeper Tony Stares became a firm fan favourite at Gosport during the 1980s, he has gone on to be a successful coach.

Originally on the books at Southampton as a youngster, Stares first came to notice whilst playing for Havant Town in the Hampshire League.

He made the step up to Southern League football with Gosport in 1981 and was a virtual ever-present throughout the decade as Boro see-sawed between the Southern Premier and Southern section.

After hanging up his gloves, Stares went into coaching and became Boro`s academy manager.

In 2017, he became chairman, replacing Mike Hook, after the financial difficulties of 2016/17 and subsequent relegation from the National League South.

As well as the chairman’s duties, Stares continued as the academy manager.

He left Boro in 2018 to join the Pro:Direct Academy, whilst heading up the centre and National League South neighbours Havant & Waterlooville's academy programme.

When naming players from Gosport Borough, Gary Juryeff just cannot be left out.

Gary, whose brother Ian went on to make over 300 appearances for Southampton, Leyton Orient, Halifax Town and Scunthorpe United, came through Boro`s youth and reserve ranks and made his first team debut at just 16.

He helped the club win their first league title in 31 seasons, winning the 1976/77 Hampshire League and getting to the quarter-finals of the FA Vase.

The performances of Juryeff for Gosport were enough for him to get a dream move to his boyhood favourites, Portsmouth, in 1981.

A fee of £10,000 was agreed between the two clubs. However, his dream move didn’t go to plan, as one or two made it clear that he wasn’t welcome, prejudicing his non-League background.

Despite this, he was appearing in behind-closed-doors first-team games and playing well. But just as Juryeff was starting to gain confidence, it was all swept beneath his feet, with the manager that brought him in Frank Burrows being sacked and the new manager, Bobby Campbell, deciding not to extend his contract.

He subsequently returned to Gosport and enjoyed good form in the Southern Premier Division for several years.

But in 1989, he decided to leave Gosport for then-Wessex Leaguers Havant Town, mainly down to the fact that his job as an estate agent was making the long trips in the Southern Premier impossible.

At Havant, Juryeff enjoyed further success helping the side to promotion but similar to the situation at Gosport, he couldn’t commit to the travelling required in the Southern League.

By 1993 he had moved to Eastleigh, but re-joined Gosport after they themselves had been relegated to the Wessex League and therefore he could commit to both his job and to the team.

However, it wasn’t the same club that Juryeff re-joined, with the club put under financial restraints and the momentum which had been built over the 1980s all but lost and Juryeff retired as a player in 1996.

Another Gosport favourite from a similar era is

The forward first joined Gosport as a 19-year-old to play in the club`s reserve side in 1973 having moved from Plymouth due to his job in the Ministry of Defence.

In 1975, Hawes moved to then-Athenian League side Alton Town after feeling that his first-team appearances would be limited under new boss Brian Mesher.

Hawes spent two years at Alton and then in 1977, he returned to Gosport and went onto score 33 goals to help Boro to win their second Hampshire League title, and ultimately get elected to join the Southern League.

However, in 1984, another Ministry of Defence move meant that Hawes had to leave Gosport again and he signed for Southern Premier Division side Trowbridge Town in December 1984.

Two years later though, Hawes’s job meant that once again he had to
Move again, this time to Belgium.

He went on to play for the local side KFC Herentals but after three years, Hawes was required to return to Gosport by the Ministry of Defence, and although not originally wanting to play semi-professional football, Hawes was convinced to re-join Gosport in 1991 by manager and former team-mate Roger Buckland.

By 1992, Hawes retired from playing at the age of 38. He managed the youth team for a while and then in 1995 as Roger Sherwood moved to Eastleigh, Hawes was appointed manager alongside Dave Pitt and Barry Cook.

He then became member of the Board, taking up the temporary role of chairman for a year in 2000, and then going onto be vice-chairman for the club until 2007, when Gosport finally returned to the Southern League under Alex Pike.

Inside forward Albert Mundy`s claim to fame was that he once held the record for the fastest goal ever scored when netting after just 6 seconds for Aldershot against Hartlepool United in 1958.

He had begun his playing days with home-town club Gosport in the Hampshire League just before and after the Second World War.

In 1950 he signed for First Division neighbours Portsmouth and he played 51 times with 12 goals before leaving Fratton Park in November 1953 when he moved along the coast to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Albion manager Billy Lane took him to the Goldstone Ground to play inside forward to Dennis Gordon on the right-wing.

The partnership was immediately successful. When, in February 1957 Mundy, moved to Aldershot, he had been Albion's leading scorer for three seasons.

But Mundy (pictured) missed out in the closing stages of Albion's Division Two promotion campaign.

In four seasons at the Goldstone Ground he scored 86 goals in 166 outings.

Mundy moved to Aldershot in 1958 and went on to make 136 appearances until 1960 when he joined Southern League side Guildford City.

He returned to where it had all begun when he re-joined Gosport in 1961 where he ended his playing days.

Striker Justin Bennett initially arrived at Privett Park during the early parts of the 2007/08 season on loan from Eastleigh.

He had started his playing days with Salisbury City and then became a prolific marksman with Wessex League side Andover.

In 2004/05 he netted 34 goals in 40 games and did even better the following season with 48 goals from 30 matches.

That earned him a move to neighbouring Eastleigh and a step up three levels to the Conference South.

That looked a step too far at first and he moved to Southern League Division One South West side Gosport on loan early in 2007/08.

He joined the club on a permanent from Eastleigh in October 2007.

Bennett (pictured) was prolific as Gosport enjoyed a successful season with the striker picking up the `golden boot` before Eastleigh returned to take their former player back on a 12-week loan as they pushed for promotion to the Conference National.

He returned to Privett Park and continued his goalscoring exploits, going on to collect two further `golden boots` in 2011/12 and 2012/13.

A spell out with an injury in 2013/14 was re-invigorated by a loan move to Poole Town, where he notched 7 goals in 6 games.

The next two campaigns saw Bennett net 34 and 33 goals respectively before dropping down to help Salisbury to a play-off place in the Southern Division One South & West with 40 goals in 47 games.

He had broken Richie Coulbert`s goalscoring record for Gosport with 257.

A short time with Oxford City and then a 16-game spell with AFC Totton and a period with Blackfield & Langley preceded a move to Bemerton Heath Harlequins, back in the Wessex League, in the summer of 2019 and he remains a potent weapon in front of goal with 72 goals from 60 games, despite being 38!

Midfielder Mike Carter was another player who showed loyalty to the club during a difficult period financially.

The combative player joined Boro from then-Wessex League side Sholing in the summer of 2014 after helping the Boatmen lift the FA Vase at Wembley by beating West Auckland Town 1-0.

The Southampton-based man became a key part of manager Alex Pike’s midfield over the next few seasons.

During his first season at the club, Carter attracted attention from a number of Football League sides.

He continued to impress before departing for Havant & Waterlooville in January 2017.

During his time with the Hawks, he helped the club to back-to-back promotions before re-joining Gosport in 2019, being made club captain by then-manager Lee Molyneaux.

Gosport`s record appearance holder is Tony Mahoney.

Formerly with Brockenhurst, he was a centre-forward/turned centre-back spanning two decades with Boro - the 1970s and 80s.

He signed for Boro in 1973 as a 21-year-old and by the age of 23, was captaining the side and amongst his honours with Gosport were two successive Hampshire League titles in 1977 and 1978, along with two promotions to the Southern League Premier Division in 1982 and 1985.

After making 768 appearances in Gosport colours, Mahoney (pictured) finally hung up his boots at the end of the 1987/88 season which culminated with a Hampshire Senior Cup winner`s medal after beating then-Isthmian Premier Division side Farnborough Town at Southampton`s Dell.

In June 2013, Gosport signed another former FA Vase winner in Andy Forbes.

Forbes began his career at Reading before dropping down into the non-League game to play for Andover and Winchester City.

It was while he was with the latter in the Wessex League that he won the Vase and his goalscoring records at both clubs landed him a move to then-Southern League side Eastleigh in 2004.

He netted over 140 goals in six years, becoming the Spitfires top scorer ever, before leaving Silverlake to join Woking in 2010.

A spell with Sutton United following prior to Forbes re-joining Eastleigh in 2011.

After joining Gosport, the once prolific striker adapted his style of play considerably and was viewed as a utility man, renowned for his versatility, rather than an out-and-out striker.

And when Gosport made their remarkable run to the FA Trophy Final at Wembley in 2014, Forbes played as a defender.

In March 2016 he returned to a now-Southern Division One South & West Winchester City side where he finished his playing career.

Of the former international players to have worn Gosport colours, Reuben Agboola joined in July 1994.

A product of Southampton`s London selection centre, his first start for the club had been as an 18-year-old at Old Trafford in a 1-1 draw.

After such a promising start to his career, Agboola (pictured) suddenly found himself unwanted, possibly because of a disciplinary incident in town which involved him being hit by a car and he suddenly found himself surplus to requirements at The Dell after 111 games for the club.

After a move to Sunderland and the versatile defender was later capped 9 times by Nigeria the land of his father’s birth.

He left the Black Cats in 1991 and had a season with Swansea City and a short spell in the Conference with Woking before finishing off his career with Gosport, joining the Privett Park outfit in 1994.

He later ran a bar in Majorca and the Sporting View at Southampton Sports Centre.

Another former international to wear Gosport colours was Jake Thomson, who represented England at under-17 level and then won two full international caps for Trinidad & Tobago in 2009.

The Portsmouth-born midfielder started his career at Southampton, for whom he made 14 appearances, and went on to have spells with Exeter City and Forest Green Rovers.

He joined Newport County in June 2012, making 25 appearances, including 3 whilst out on loan at Lincoln City.

He signed for then-Conference Premier new boys Salisbury in August 2013 but has had limited opportunities at Old Sarum.

In January 2014, he dropped into the Wessex League with AFC Portchester but then stepped back up the non-League Pyramid with National League South sides Bognor Regis Town and Havant & Waterlooville before signing for Southern League Gosport in 2017.

A short trip to Wessex League neighbours Fareham Town followed two years later and then, after a short spell out of the game, signed for another Wessex outfit, Horndean, in August 2020.

Midfielder Duran Martin had a short, nine-game spell with Gosport in 2017.

Capped 6 times at full international level for Antigua & Barbuda, he had spells with Old Woodstock Town in the Hellenic League as well as with Banbury United and Corby Town in the Southern League before joining Boro.

He returned to Banbury after leaving Privett Park and later played for Kidlington and, currently, Southern Division One Central outfit Thame United.

The wonderfully named Happy Hall

Capped 15 times by the Bahamas, the defender played all his formative football in the United States with Bradenton Academicals and North York Astros and then came over to England and played for Boro on a short-term deal before heading back to Bradenton.

He then spent a year with Ma Pau in the Trinidad & Tobago League before returning to the States with Dayton Dutch Lions and Lyford Cay.

Another to have had a brief time at Privett Park was experienced and versatile former Philippines international, Matt Hartmann was on Portsmouth’s books in 2006.

He went on to play three times for Nottingham Forest before being released and headed back to the south coast where he turned out for Bognor Regis Town and Weymouth before moving to the Philippines to continue his development with Loyola Meraico Sparks, Global and then Davao Aguilas.

During his time abroad Hartmann was selected to play for the senior Philippines side as well as making appearances for the under-23 and under-21 sides – his two brothers Darren and Mark have also represented the islands at this level.

He signed for Gosport in February 2019 but left for AFC Totton at the end of that season.

Goalkeeper Matt Cafer played only 7 times for Gosport in 2017.

Gibraltar has twice capped him, making his international debut in the Nations League in Macedonia in 2018.

He was a junior at Yeovil Town and had several loans before being released and joining home-town club Weymouth at the end of 2013.

He immediately went for the first of two spells playing in Gibraltar with Manchester 62 and Gibraltar Phoenix, in between playing for Gosport, Dorchester Town and Farnborough.

He returned from his second spell in Gibraltar in January 2020 with Bruno's Magpies and signed for Isthmian North club Romford shortly afterwards.

I would probably have included Darren Robson and Mick Catlin in this piece, but both have featured in our `Focus On` series!

Gosport Borough Web Site