They`ve Played for Your Club…..Beaconsfield (SYCOB & Town)

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

The club was established as Beaconsfield SYCOB in 1994 by a merger of Beaconsfield United of the Spartan League and Slough Youth Club Old Boys of the Chiltonian League, with the new club taking Beaconsfield United's place in the Premier Division of the Spartan League.

Beaconsfield United had played in the Spartan League since 1979 and won the Senior Division in 1982/83, earning promotion to the Premier Division, whilst Slough Youth Club Old Boys had been members of the Chiltonian League since 1990.

When the league merged with the South Midlands League to form the Spartan South Midlands League in 1997, Beaconsfield were placed in the Premier South Division, finishing as runners-up in the league's first season and earning a place in the Premier Division for the following season.

In 2000/01 Beaconsfield won the Premier Division and after repeating this in 2003/04 they were promoted to Division One East of the Southern League.

They were transferred to Division One West for the following season, which became Division One South & West for the 2006/07 season. However, after finishing bottom that season, they were relegated back to the Spartan South Midlands League.

The club won the league at the first attempt and were promoted back to Division One South & West of the Southern League.

The following season, 2008/09, saw them finish fourth, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, they lost 2–1 to AFC Totton in the semi-finals.

In 2009 Beaconsfield were transferred to Division One Midlands, which became Division One Central the following season.

A fifth-place finish in 2011/12 saw them qualify for the play-offs again, this time losing 3–1 in the final to Bedworth United after beating local rivals Slough Town 2–1 in the semi-finals.

Another fifth-place finish the following season led to another play-off campaign, but they were beaten 1–0 by Rugby Town in the semi-finals.

In 2017 the club changed its name to Beaconsfield Town, two years after the move was first announced.

The 2017/18 season saw them win the re-named East Division, earning promotion to the Premier Division South.

The truncated 2019/20 season saw the club expanding with the establishing of an academy as well as an under-18 team and plans in place to add further age group sides as the Rams look to build for the future both on and off the pitch.

One of Beaconsfield`s favourite players from the club`s early days was forward Allan Arthur.

He was the club`s top scorer for several seasons and was still registered as a player in the Spartan South Midlands League for Leverstock Green at the age of 47 having returned to Green in summer 2009 in a coaching role.

As well as Leverstock Green, he also had spells with Stevenage Borough, Hemel Hempstead Town, Harpenden Town, Letchworth, Beaconsfield SYCOB, Dunstable Town and Kings Langley.

Omari Patrick started his career with Beaconsfield SYCOB after coming through the renowned FAB Academy after having unsuccessful trials with Brentford, Barnet and Glasgow Rangers.

He scored on his debut for the Rams against Bedford Town and went on to score 14 goals in 49 matches over one and a half seasons and went on trial to Oxford United.

In December 2015, he made a step up in levels to the Vanarama National League when he was just 21 when he signed for Kidderminster Harriers.

He was spotted by Barnsley, who snapped him up in September 2016 on a one-year deal, and he impressed with the development squad at Oakwell which caught the eye of Bradford City along the way.

An initial one-year deal took him to Valley Parade in May 2017, and he hit the ground running when he bagged the winning goal against Blackpool on his debut in the first game of the 2017/18 season.

His contract was extended to a three-year deal with the Bantams in August 2017, and he spent the first half of the 2018/19 campaign on-loan with Yeovil Town.

The 2019/20 term saw him team up with Wrexham for a loan spell where he scored 5 goals in his 7 starts for the Welsh outfit.

He joined Carlisle United for an undisclosed fee from Bradford City, on an 18-month deal, during the January 2020 transfer window.

He bagged 2 goals in his first 7 appearances for the Cumbrians and completed 44 games and 7 goals before signing a two-year deal with Burton Albion in July 2021.

However, in January 2022, he re-joined Carlisle after playing 7 times for the Brewers and, at the time of writing, now has 8 from 18 games for the Cumbrians.

Rob Paris was a defender who began his career with neighbours Slough Town under the management of former Arsenal man Brian McDermott.

He joined Beaconsfield SYCOB, then members of the Spartan South Midlands League, in 1999 and helped the Rams to finish third.

In 2000, he signed for Northwood, who had just been promoted to the Isthmian League Division One.

Aylesbury United were his next port of call in 2002, making 28 appearances for the Ducks, and then Maidenhead United called at the beginning of the 2002/03 season.

He then signed for Hampton & Richmond Borough before switching to Isthmian Premier rivals Kingstonian in 2004.

He re-joined the Beavers in the summer of 2005 and spent three more seasons at the Beveree, adding over 100 games to his tally.

He had three seasons with Burnham from 2008 to 2011 and ended his playing days with East Berks Premier Division outfit Eton Wick, near where he lived.

During his second spell with Hampton, Paris was called up to play for Anguilla at the ages of 31 and won 2 caps in a two-legged World Cup qualifier against El Salvador.

Striker Kofi Lockhart-Adams began his career in the youth teams at Reading and Leyton Orient, before joining Barnet’s youth team.

Following a series of injuries to first-team regulars, the then Bees manager Ian Hendon called Lockhart-Adams into the first-team squad in November 2009.

Making his debut, aged 17 years and 46 days on 24th November 2009 in a 5-1 away defeat to Cheltenham, he became Barnet’s youngest ever Football League player, breaking the record of 17 years and 71 days set by Kieran Adams against Mansfield Town in December 1994.

He lost the record to 16-year-old Mauro Vilhete in May 2010.

He was released by Barnet at the end of the 2010/11 season and had spells with Walton Casuals, Tooting & Mitcham United and Ashford Town (Middx), where he impressed in scoring 22 goals in 2012/13 in the Southern League Division One Central.

That earned him a step up to the Southern Premier Division with Hitchin Town, although he made a swift return to Ashford after failing to make his mark at Top Field.

In November 2013, he signed for Beaconsfield SYCOB for the first time and scored 10 goals in 26 games before following manager Gary Meakin to Burnham, then in the Southern Premier, in August 2014.

In January 2015, he again followed Meakin back to Beaconsfield.

In the summer of 2015, he switched to Chalfont St Peter and played over 50 times and scored 13 goals before leaving for a short spell with Egham Town.

In the summer of 2017, he returned to Holloways Park, this time to sign for the newly named Beaconsfield Town side.

But his return was a fairly brief one and he had short spells with Holmer Green and Spelthorne Sports as well as returns to former teams Aylesbury and Ashford before moving to Wales to become a Health & Fitness manager in Cardiff.

Kian Duncan is still just 21 but is a current international with Anguilla, playing four regional qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar which takes place this November.

Another graduate from the FAB Academy at Bisham Abbey after playing for Portsmouth and Wokingham & Emmbrook at youth level, he joined Beaconsfield Town in 2017.

Spells with Burnham and Basingstoke Town followed before he signed for Binfield in the summer of 2021 as they embarked on their first season at Step 4 level in the Isthmian League South Central Division.

Adrian Sear was a midfielder who joined Beaconsfield SYCOB in 2007 from then-Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division rivals Ruislip Manor.

He helped SYCOB to win the SSML title and promotion to the Southern League at the end of the 2007/08 season but instead of staying to help the Rams, he moved to league rivals Burnham.

He spent two full seasons with Burnham and then moves to St Neots Town, where he was an integral part of the squad which won the Southern League Division One Central title in season 2011/12, making 39 appearances and scoring 3 goals.

The following season, he linked up with former St Neots manager Dennis Greene at Histon, making 14 appearances before returning to the Saints, where he was very highly rated.

Sear re-joined Burnham briefly on loan at the back end of season 2013/14 and decided to join Slough Town following his release in the summer of 2014.

He played 40 games in 2014/15 and 2015/16 and then in the summer of 2016, he was handed a player-coach role by joint bosses Neil Baker and Jon Underwood.

He re-joined Burnham in 2017 before hanging up his boots.

Simon Delahunty will always be remembered as the man who led SYCOB to their first title success.

As a player, he was a decent non-League defender with the likes of Windsor & Eton, Egham Town, Slough Town and Burnham.

But then under Delahunty, SYCOB won the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division title in 2001. However, they were refused promotion due to issues concerning the ground lease and it wasn't until 2003/04 that the club left the SSML for the Southern League Division One East when winning the Premier Division again.

Delahunty had already left by then to take over at Flackwell Heath, who he took to the brink of the First Round proper of the FA Cup in 2003/04.

He returned to SYCOB to take over from Colin Barnes in February 2005 before taking up a role on the management team at Burnham.

Born in Bracknell, Damian Markman was a strong, pacey forward who started his playing days with nearby Slough Town.

He played 4 times in the Football League for Wycombe Wanderers after joining from Slough in November 1995, eventually leaving the Chairboys in May 1997.

After a spell in Finland with RoPS, he returned to England and had spells with Harrow Borough, Yeading and home-town club Bracknell Town before re-joining Harrow in 1999.

He scored 21 goals for the Isthmian League Premier Division side but failed to recreate that form for Slough, where he returned to the following season, notching just 4 times in 32 games.

Markman's pace was his real asset during his time with the club and was often used as an impact substitute, but he did score a valuable goal in a 1-0 relegation battle win over Maidenhead United at Wexham Park.

In 2002 he signed for SYCOB and spent two years at Holloways Park before, following a short time at Braintree Town, he headed for the Midlands to university and turned out for the likes of Sutton Coldfield Town and Redditch United.

He finished his playing days back in Berkshire with Ascot United and is now a Senior Sports Coach Mentor in a school in Slough.

Jamie Jarvis was a strong, physical midfielder whose disciplinary problems often got him in trouble with officials and officialdom!

As a player, he turned out for Kingstonian, Grays Athletic, Hayes, Maidenhead United, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Uxbridge, Slough Town, Burnham and SYCOB.

Season 2007/08 saw SYCOB employ Jarvis as player-manager.

Their stay in the Spartan South Midlands League was for just one season as the new manager guided his team to the championship title by 9 points, after gaining 98 points in the campaign.

And the trophies kept coming, as the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy was added three days after winning the league, and to complete a historic season, the league’s Premier Division Cup was also won, giving SYCOB their first ever treble.

Season 2008/09 saw Beaconsfield SYCOB back in the Southern League South & West Division.

They enjoyed an excellent return to this level of football, finishing in fourth position after spending almost all season in the top six.

Their memorable season eventually ended when they were beaten in the play-off semi-final by AFC Totton.

After the season had ended, Jarvis decided that it was time to leave for pastures new and he returned to Burnham as boss.

He resigned in January 2011 in the wake of the 4-0 home defeat by bottom of the table Soham Town Rangers.

Roy Gumbs was a powerful and enthusiastic front runner.

He was a long-serving player with SYCOB, joining initially in 1994 and going on to play until 2007 when he moved to neighbouring Slough Town where his presence upfront helped to cause problems for opposing defences.

He quickly established himself as fans favourite due to his attitude on the pitch and also off it and also won one international cap for Anguilla against El Salvador in a World Cup qualifying match in February 2008.

He had a spell with Leverstock Green before returning to Slough, joining the club's coaching staff after retiring from playing in 2010 and later managed Datchet Village.

And in 2017, Gumbs secured legendary status at Datchet Village when he became the club’s oldest ever scorer in a 4-2 win for the second team over Jagz FC in the Thames Valley Sunday League!

Gumbs rounded off the scoring at the age of 47!

Beaconsfield Town Web Site