Alan Devonshire
Encyclopedia
Alan Devonshire is a retired English
footballer and manager of Conference National
club Braintree Town
. He was a wide midfielder
who made his name in the late 1970s playing for West Ham United
(1976–1990). He won eight caps for England
between 1980 and 1983. He finished his career at Watford
.
, in which West Ham lost 2-0. He made his League debut three days later on 30 October 1976 against West Bromwich Albion
, where he played in a 3–0 defeat. He scored 29 goals in 345 full (and 13 substitute) appearances.
He collected an FA Cup
winner's medal in 1980
, when the Hammers (then a Second Division
club) beat favourites Arsenal
1-0 at Wembley
. He collected a Second Division title medal the following year as the Hammers won promotion, and was still a very integral part of the side when they finished third in the league in 1986, just two places and four points short of what would have been the club's first ever top division title - an accolade that the club has yet to achieve 25 years later.
He remained at Upton Park
until 1990, a year after the Hammers were relegated to the Second Division, and then signed for Watford
, where he played for two years before retiring as a player in 1992. He had played a total of 446 competitive games for the Hammers over 14 years, scoring 32 goals.
|1976–77
||rowspan="14"|West Ham United
||rowspan="02"|First Division
||27||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||27||0
|-
|1977–78
||32||3||3||0||1||0||0||0||36||3
|-
|1978–79
||rowspan="3"|Second Division
||41||5||1||0||1||0||0||0||43||5
|-
|1979–80
||34||5||8||1||7||0||0||0||49||6
|-
|1980–81
||39||6||3||0||9||0||4||0||55||6
|-
|1981–82
||rowspan="8"|First Division
||35||1||1||0||5||0||0||0||41||1
|-
|1982–83
||39||3||1||0||6||0||0||0||46||3
|-
|1983–84
||22||1||1||0||4||2||0||0||27||3
|-
|1984–85
||0||0||2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0
|-
|1985–86
||38||3||6||0||3||0||0||0||47||3
|-
|1986–87
||20||2||3||0||4||0||0||0||27||2
|-
|1987–88
||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0
|-
|1988–89
||14||0||7||0||4||0||0||0||25||0
|-
|1989–90
||rowspan="1"|Second Division
||3||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||3||0
345||29||36||1||45||2||4||0||430||32
345||29||36||1||45||2||4||0||430||32
in the Conference South
. He was previously manager of Maidenhead United
.
As manager of Hampton & Richmond, he took the club from Isthmian League Division One South to the play off-final of the Conference South. In his first season he guided them to fifth place in the Isthmian Division One South which due to re-organization of the leagues was enough to see the club promoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division. He then guided the club to a sixth placed finish in their debut season at that level missing out on the play-offs on goal difference on the final day of the season. The 2005–06 season would see Devonshire take the team into the play-offs. Having won a dramatic play-off semi-final on penalties away to Heybridge Swifts
the team then faced Fisher Athletic
away who beat Hampton 3–0. Devonshire finally managed to get Hampton & Richmond Borough promoted the following season in style by bringing the Isthmian Premier Division title to the Beveree. In their debut season in the Conference South he has managed to guide his team to third place in the league and into the play-offs for the Conference National
.
On 23 May 2011, it was announced that Devonshire was appointed the manager of newly promoted Conference National club Braintree Town
.
, was a professional footballer with clubs including Chester City
and Crystal Palace
.
He has a race horse named after him.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballer and manager of Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
club Braintree Town
Braintree Town F.C.
Braintree Town F.C. is an English football club based in Braintree, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference National and play their home matches at Cressing Road.-History:...
. He was a wide midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
who made his name in the late 1970s playing for West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
(1976–1990). He won eight caps for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
between 1980 and 1983. He finished his career at Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
.
Playing career
Devonshire's made his debut for West Ham on 27 October 1976 in a League Cup tie against Queens Park RangersQueens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
, in which West Ham lost 2-0. He made his League debut three days later on 30 October 1976 against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
, where he played in a 3–0 defeat. He scored 29 goals in 345 full (and 13 substitute) appearances.
He collected an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winner's medal in 1980
1980 FA Cup Final
The 1980 FA Cup Final was contested by West Ham United and Arsenal at Wembley. West Ham won by a single goal, scored by Trevor Brooking.To date, it is the last time a team from outside the top flight has won the FA Cup...
, when the Hammers (then a Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
club) beat favourites Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
1-0 at Wembley
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. He collected a Second Division title medal the following year as the Hammers won promotion, and was still a very integral part of the side when they finished third in the league in 1986, just two places and four points short of what would have been the club's first ever top division title - an accolade that the club has yet to achieve 25 years later.
He remained at Upton Park
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...
until 1990, a year after the Hammers were relegated to the Second Division, and then signed for Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
, where he played for two years before retiring as a player in 1992. He had played a total of 446 competitive games for the Hammers over 14 years, scoring 32 goals.
Appearances for West Ham United
|-|1976–77
The Football League 1976-77
-Overview:The 1976–1977 season was the 77th completed season of The Football League.As of this season, goal difference was used to separate the clubs finishing level on points. The earlier system, used from the season 1894–95 until the 1975–76 had been the so-called goal average , or more properly...
||rowspan="14"|West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
||rowspan="02"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||27||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||27||0
|-
|1977–78
The Football League 1977-78
-Overview:The 1977–1978 season was the 78th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest side took on the First Division by storm, by winning the League Cup on 22 March and confirming themselves as league champions the following month...
||32||3||3||0||1||0||0||0||36||3
|-
|1978–79
The Football League 1978-79
-Overview:The 1978–1979 season was the 79th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Bob Paisley won his third league title at Liverpool as his conquering side fought off competition from the likes of Nottingham Forest and West Bromwich Albion to achieve their triumph...
||rowspan="3"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||41||5||1||0||1||0||0||0||43||5
|-
|1979–80
The Football League 1979-80
-Overview:The 1979–1980 season was the 80th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Bob Paisley's Liverpool retained their league championship trophy after fighting off a determined challenge by Dave Sexton's Manchester United...
||34||5||8||1||7||0||0||0||49||6
|-
|1980–81
The Football League 1980-81
The 1980–1981 season was the 81st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Ron Saunders completed Aston Villa's revival, as they ended their 71-year wait for the league championship trophy. They competed in a two-horse race with Ipswich Town during the final stages of the season...
||39||6||3||0||9||0||4||0||55||6
|-
|1981–82
The Football League 1981-82
The 1981–1982 season was the 82nd completed season of The Football League.- First Division:3 points for a win was introduced for the first time in England...
||rowspan="8"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||35||1||1||0||5||0||0||0||41||1
|-
|1982–83
The Football League 1982-83
-Overview:The 1982–1983 season was the 83rd completed season of The Football League.- First Division:Bob Paisley’s last season as Liverpool manager ended on a high as they topped the First Division with a comfortable lead. Bob Paisley retired as Liverpool manager with a record 21 prizes in nine...
||39||3||1||0||6||0||0||0||46||3
|-
|1983–84
The Football League 1983-84
-Overview:The 1983–1984 season was the 84th completed season of The Football League.- First Division:Liverpool had a great first season under the management of Joe Fagan as they wrapped up their third successive league title and the 15th in their history. They overcame strong competition from...
||22||1||1||0||4||2||0||0||27||3
|-
|1984–85
The Football League 1984-85
-Overview:The 1984–1985 season was the 85th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Howard Kendall’s Everton side beat neighbours Liverpool to the league championship, while Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United followed closely behind...
||0||0||2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0
|-
|1985–86
The Football League 1985-86
-Overview:The 1985–1986 season was the 86th completed season of the The Football League.-Final league tables and results :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at the website, with home and away statistics separated.Re-election: During the first five seasons...
||38||3||6||0||3||0||0||0||47||3
|-
|1986–87
The Football League 1986-87
-Overview:The 1986–1987 season was the 87th completed season of the The Football League.-Innovations for this season:Playoffs to determine promotion places were introduced in 1987 so that more clubs remained eligible for promotion closer to the end of the season, and at the same time to aid in the...
||20||2||3||0||4||0||0||0||27||2
|-
|1987–88
The Football League 1987-88
The 1987–1988 season was the 88th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season...
||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0
|-
|1988–89
The Football League 1988-89
The 1988–1989 season was the 89th completed season of the Football League.No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place....
||14||0||7||0||4||0||0||0||25||0
|-
|1989–90
The Football League 1989-90
The 1989–1990 season was the 90th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalglish’s management. To date, this remains...
||rowspan="1"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||3||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||3||0
345||29||36||1||45||2||4||0||430||32
345||29||36||1||45||2||4||0||430||32
Management
Devonshire became the manager of Hampton & Richmond BoroughHampton & Richmond Borough F.C.
Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. are an English football club based in the suburb of Hampton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. They were founded in 1921 and formerly known as Hampton F.C. until 1999 when they changed their name in an attempt to draw a wider support base from around the...
in the Conference South
Conference South
Conference South is one of the second divisions of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National...
. He was previously manager of Maidenhead United
Maidenhead United F.C.
Maidenhead United Football Club is an English football club in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The club was founded in 1870 and moved to their current ground at York Road the following year...
.
As manager of Hampton & Richmond, he took the club from Isthmian League Division One South to the play off-final of the Conference South. In his first season he guided them to fifth place in the Isthmian Division One South which due to re-organization of the leagues was enough to see the club promoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division. He then guided the club to a sixth placed finish in their debut season at that level missing out on the play-offs on goal difference on the final day of the season. The 2005–06 season would see Devonshire take the team into the play-offs. Having won a dramatic play-off semi-final on penalties away to Heybridge Swifts
Heybridge Swifts F.C.
Heybridge Swifts are a non-league football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex. They were established in 1880 and were founding members of the Essex Senior League in 1971...
the team then faced Fisher Athletic
Fisher Athletic F.C.
Fisher Athletic F.C. was a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based club ground-shared at Champion Hill Stadium, the home...
away who beat Hampton 3–0. Devonshire finally managed to get Hampton & Richmond Borough promoted the following season in style by bringing the Isthmian Premier Division title to the Beveree. In their debut season in the Conference South he has managed to guide his team to third place in the league and into the play-offs for the Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
.
On 23 May 2011, it was announced that Devonshire was appointed the manager of newly promoted Conference National club Braintree Town
Braintree Town F.C.
Braintree Town F.C. is an English football club based in Braintree, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference National and play their home matches at Cressing Road.-History:...
.
Managerial statistics
As of 5 November 2011| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Braintree Town Braintree Town F.C. Braintree Town F.C. is an English football club based in Braintree, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference National and play their home matches at Cressing Road.-History:... |
23 May 2011 | Present |
|||||
| Total |
|||||||
Personal life
Devonshire's father, LesLes Devonshire
Les Devonshire is a former English professional footballer who made more than 100 appearances in The Football League for Chester and Crystal Palace. His son, Alan Devonshire, was capped by England.-Playing career:...
, was a professional footballer with clubs including Chester City
Chester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
and Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
.
He has a race horse named after him.