'Maidenhead's greatest manager twice over': Devonshire bows out after a decade of defying the odds

Alan Devonshire - who has stepped down as Maidenhead United manager after over a decade in charge - made a mockery of the saying in football that ‘you should never go back’.

Devonshire informed chairman Peter Griffin of his decision to step down as first team boss on Sunday - just 24 hours after the Magpies’ 1-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge.

That was the club’s seventh defeat in eight matches in all competitions, but his reputation as the most successful manager in Maidenhead United’s history cannot be tarnished by that - or last season’s relegation from the National League.

He is, as supporters have pointed out on social media - Maidenhead’s greatest manager, ‘twice over’, and his achievements will be talked about and celebrated for many years for come. Supporters who celebrated the club’s promotion from the National League South as champions back in 2017 will remember the post-match pitch invasion and celebrations with the players for the rest of their lives.

Under Devonshire, Maidenhead defied expectations and the bookies’ odds season after season.

Having arrived back at the club in 2015 with ‘unfinished business’ - after largely successful spells at Hampton & Richmond Borough and Braintree Town - Devonshire set about establishing the Magpies as a force to be reckoned with in the National League South.

They finished seventh in his first full season, just outside of the play-offs, and made a memorable run to the first round of the FA Cup, where James Mulley’s late goal secured a 1-1 draw with League 1 Port Vale and a televised sell-out clash at York Road in the replay. Runs to the first round of the competition under Devonshire have also seen the Magpies take on Coventry City, Portsmouth and Rotherham.

But it’s Devonshire’s league achievements that will be most fondly remembered and rightly celebrated. Few expected the side to challenge for the title in the 2016/17 season, but that’s exactly what they did, United romping to the top of the table with some incredible performances. Few who were there will ever forget Dave Tarpey’s dazzling hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Dartford at a fog-bound York Road, while the Magpies’ 5-1 away win at Bath City was another result for the ages.

They managed to get the job done on a sunny day at Margate on the final day of the season, winning 3-0 to prompt delirious scenes of celebration after the final whistle, even if the league had decided to take the National League South trophy to rivals Ebbsfleet United’s ground for some bizarre reason.

It mattered little, Maidenhead were deserving winners and they continued to ruffle feathers in the division above. For eight successive seasons Maidenhead defied the odds to survive at the top level, with Devonshire managing to establish this part-time club as a force to be reckoned with in a largely full-time and increasingly competitive division.

They took many scalps along the way, prompting the terms ‘BELT’ and ‘Devonshired’ to find their way into supporters’ lexicon. BELT refers to the ‘Bitter Ex League Teams’ Maidenhead managed to beat on a regular basis, and they include Leyton Orient, Chesterfield, Tranmere Rovers and famously Wrexham - although there were many others.

Fewer former league clubs were ‘Devonshired’ last season, however, as the Magpies home form deserted them. They finished the campaign with the second worst home record in the division and were relegated on the final day of the season.

They still managed a creditable 52 points after finishing the campaign with a run of six unbeaten games, however, their poor earlier season form - and their late surge of form being matched by rivals - ensured their demotion.

Devonshire wanted one last chance to get ‘the club back where it belongs’ in what was always likely to be his last season in charge. It hasn’t gone the way he or the club would have hoped, but that cannot take away from what’s been the most successful 10-year spell in the club’s history.

He’ll leave the club after this week’s matches at Salisbury this evening (Tuesday) and Chippenham Town on Saturday (November 29) and chairman Peter Griffin has urged Magpies supporters to come down to York Road to give Devonshire the ‘send-off he deserves’.

Ryan Peters and Aaron O’Brien will take charge of the team on an interim basis - though Griffin insists they have a wonderful opportunity to put themselves in the frame for the posts on a permanent basis. The club sits 15th in the National League South table, eight points off the play-off places and six points off the relegation zone.

Devonshire’s first spell as manager of the club ‘he loves’ dates back to 1996 when he arrived at York Road as joint manager with Martyn Busby.

He took over the reins a year later and success and silverware soon followed, with the Magpies lifting the Isthmian League Full Members Cup in 1997.

Back-to-back Berks & Bucks Senior Cup final wins followed for the Magpies before the club secured promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division in 2000.

Devonshire managed the Magpies to two further Berks & Bucks Senior Cup wins before stepping down in 2003 feeling he’d taken the club as far as he could.

In truth he was able to take Maidenhead United a lot further than that.

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Alan Devonshire after the club’s relegation was confirmed last season.

“The fans have been brilliant. I was at West Ham for years and the fans there were brilliant.

“I fell in love with them, and I’ve fallen in love with the fans here. They are absolutely brilliant.

We’ve been relegated but there’s 3,000 here today. I can’t have asked them to give any more.

“We’ve got to go again.”