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John Hawes: "They were the best years of our lives"
Sam Rayment29 Jun 2020 - 11:00
John Hawes talks about his 45 year involvement at Gosport Borough
"It was the best years of our lives. People wanted to talk to you about football all the time."
- John Hawes on the early 80s and mid 80s
A 19-year-old boy, who has left his home which is 171 miles away, has just entered the dressing
room of Privett Park into a team with players that have known each other since they were 7
years old, many playing with each other when they first kicked a ball.
This was the exact situation which faced John Hawes when he first joined Gosport Borough
reserves in 1973. A fresh-faced 19 year old who had moved from Plymouth to Gosport due to
his job in the Ministry of Defence.
To many this would be a hurdle too big to jump, but after being involved with the club for more
than 45 years, in that time making 680 appearances, 3 years as head coach of the first team,
along with being appointed as both chairman and vice-chairman, it is a hurdle that Hawes was
able to jump.
However, Hawes was already used to moving home as a child, with his dad working as a
Physical Training Instructor in the Royal Marines, the Plymouth-born boy moved to Malta at the
age of four and stayed until the age of six. His first footballing memories were kicking a football
around the gyms at his father’s work, with no school in the afternoon due to the heat.
“I’m a Plyothian and still a big [Plymouth] Argyle supporter. But the first memory I have of kicking
a football was in Malta, because we didn’t have school in the afternoon due to the heat. So my
dad, who was in charge of the PTI, used to take me along to the gym and I’d just kick a ball
about,” said Hawes.
“When we were growing up in the 1960s, we didn’t have game machines, you would just go
down to the park, kick the ball about, then go home and go to bed. Football and cricket was
really what we did.”
When Hawes came back to Plymouth, his world still revolved around football. Playing both in
and outside of school, with both his dad and teachers encouraging him to pursue his ambition of
playing football.
Whenever Hawes was not playing football, he would be in the stands at Home Park supporting
Plymouth Argyle watching talents such as Colin Sullivan, Barry Jones and Mike Bickle.
“I was pretty lucky in a sense, the school I went to had some very good teachers, who were very
keen on football. One of them was an Argyle player at the time.
“Another teacher at the time took me to play in men’s football when I was 16, and it was at a
reasonable standard. I had done all the Devon school football before that as well.
“All I wanted to do as a youngster was to play football and watch Argyle play, I remember
watching Colin Sullivan. He was a super player at the time and he had played for Plymouth at
the age of 16, and someone who I got to play with when I was at Fareham veterans.”
In 1972, due to his job in the Ministry of Defence, Hawes moved to Centorian in Gosport, a
place at the time he had never heard of. Having played for the Centorian football team during
the 1972/1973 season, on the last game of the season he was asked to go down to Privett Park
to play for the reserves.
It was a daunting task for Hawes to go into the dressing of the Gosport Borough reserves, with
the majority of the players having been raised in Gosport and playing each other since their
school-footballing days, with the squad including players such as Tony Mahoney and Neville
Woodd.
Though Hawes was able to overcome the challenge. He adapted well and integrated himself
into the team over the summer, admitting that he is quite a sociable person.
“I started playing in the Sunday Gosport league, who were quite a strong side at the time. At the
end of the season, Tony Higman [Gosport manager] and Mick Slaymaker came down, watched
a few games and asked if I would like to join.
“I played a few games at the end of the season, which I think helped for the start of the following
season. It was a little bit difficult because all these players were Gosport guys and had played
together for school sides.
“In the next season though, things just clicked. I was scoring goals and was a sociable person,
so it wasn’t really a challenge in the end.”
In 1975, Hawes moved to Alton Town after Higman and Slaymaker left the club and Brian
Mesher was hired as the new Gosport manager. Hawes felt that his first team appearances
would be limited as Mesher brought in players from his previous club.
The turning point though for Hawes was during a pre-season friendly, when Mesher threatened
one of the senior players, Ron Wilson. This self-doubt meant Hawes questioned whether he
could give 100 percent whilst playing for him.
“At the end of the first season I had played, Tony Higman and Mick Slaymaker resigned, and
Brian Mesher joined the club to manage next season. He brought some players in with him, so I
was not concerned, but thought perhaps I wasn’t going to get as many first team appearances.
“The thing that actually made my mind up, was we were playing a pre-season friendly. Brian
took one of the senior players, Ron Wilson, and was extreme, I don’t know what built up to it,
but more-or-less threatened him.
“Ron was one of the nicest, most gentlemanly people you could wish to meet, and I thought to
myself do I really want to play for Brian. A few days later, Alton got in touch and they played in
the Athenian league, a London-based league which at the time was possibly a slightly better
standard.”
Hawes spent two years at Alton, first arriving into a team with mainly former Portsmouth players
such as Lenny Phillips, Keith Ward, Barry Dyer, Malcolm White and Les MacDonald. Though
this wasn’t a problem, as Hawes was able to integrate himself into the side, and able to
socialise with the players, as he still lived in Gosport at the time.
However, his second season at the club didn’t go as well. A managerial change meant that the
majority of the Pompey players at the club had left, with only a few players from Gosport or the
surrounding area travelling up to Alton. Despite the changes in his last season, Hawes looks
back fondly at his memories playing for Alton Town.
“The first year I played for Alton it was basically Portsmouth players and the former Pompey
manager. The first season I was there was relatively straight forward.
“In the second season, there was a change of manager. There were only a couple of us going
up from Gosport, one of them being Richard Reid, and I used to go up with him. I enjoyed those
two seasons, I think they did me good actually.”
In 1977, Hawes returned to Gosport Borough, Peter Edgar asked for him to come back to the
club, even going to his house and pleading him to rejoin the Boro’. Hawes also knew he was
joining a club which had the potential to win silverware, having already won the 1976/77
Hampshire league title.
At the time, things in his personal life were changing. In 1976 Hawes would go on to marry his
wife Deborah, who he is still with today, and felt that travelling up to Alton and London for away
games was not possible anymore.
“In 76’, I got married, which meant playing for Gosport would be more convenient. Pete Edgar
did make an effort, he came out and spoke to me, it is always nice to feel wanted, and Gosport
had just won the league. It was just the right time to come back to the club.”
Hawes didn’t feel the pressure of going into a starting 11 which had previously won the league,
Gosport’s first title in 31 seasons. He wasn’t the typical number-nine, Hawes was extremely thin
and not very physical, even being pushed back into midfield until Christmas.
However, Hawes was able to show skill and talent, after being moved back up to the striker
position he went onto score 33 goals. These goals helped Gosport go on to win their second
Hampshire league title, and ultimately get elected to join the Southern League.
“I wasn’t a proper number-nine, physically, I wasn’t big enough or strong, and I was extremely
thin. I played in midfield up until Christmas, we had a pretty poor start that year. After Christmas,
they played me upfront, and I just couldn’t stop scoring goals.
“In the end, I found it quite easy coming back to the club. All local lads, the likes of Tony
Mahoney, were great people, so it was fairly easy. I think it being more convenient playing for
Gosport also helped me as well.”
Hawes was playing in a golden period at the club, where the team couldn’t stop winning. Their
good form meant that Gosport never finished outside the top four in their first four seasons in
the Southern League.
With the majority of the players at the time from Gosport, the club was firmly in the hearts of the
community. With Hawes himself being stopped in the street to talk about football and Gosport
Borough.
“We keep saying it was the best years of our lives. For the next number of years we were
winning, doing well and going up the league, it was fantastic. People wanted to talk to you about
football all the time.”
“To play with your mates, and to go to places like Dartford, Dover, Crawley and Wealdstone,
then go and get a result was just incredible. It really was an incredible achievement those next
few seasons.”
Though this all ended in 1984, the reason which had caused Hawes to move to Gosport in 1972
was now the reason he was leaving. The Ministry of Defence had relocated Hawes to
Trowbridge, and now with two young children, it meant it was not possible to play and live in
Gosport
Despite Trowbridge FC playing at the same level as Borough, the love and affection Hawes had
felt for Gosport was not the same for Trowbridge. The club had been relegated the season
before and was now in financial trouble. The importance of team spirit and the strong bond
between players which Hawes found at Gosport was non-existent at Trowbridge.
“The move to Trowbridge was due to the Ministry of Defence moving me. We had young
children, so I couldn’t travel all the way to Gosport to play.
“At the time, Trowbridge had just been relegated from what is now known as the National
League, so I thought I would be playing at a reasonable standard and it was a walkable
distance. But it wasn’t a particularly well run club, coming out of the National league there were
a lot of issues financially.”
By Christmas, Hawes had left Trowbirgde, not happy about the situation and atmosphere
around the club. At the same time, his wife’s father had died, and his mother-in-law now alone
living in Gosport, meant they felt it was the right time to go back.
Hawes returned to the Boro’, to an atmosphere completely different to Trowbridge, even though
Gosport had also been relegated the season before, and to surroundings he was familiar with.
Hawes joined a side which would go onto win 16 of their final 19 matches of the season,
winning promotion back to the Southern Premier Division.
Despite Hawes being injured for the final game against Salisbury (in which Gosport won 5-0), he
was still astonished by the atmosphere on the day, with over 1,500 people turning up to Privett
Park to see Borough earn promotion.
“I got injured two or three games before the match against Salisbury. I remember on the day
though, I watched the game and then was serving behind the bar because it was absolutely
chaotic. It was a super atmosphere.
“I certainly enjoyed coming back to the club and it made me appreciate more what Pete Edgar
and Tony Brickwood had done for the club. Obviously it wasn’t always easy with the travelling. I
remember one time having to travel from Crawley to Gosport, then Gosport to Trowbridge. It
wasn’t ideal, but from a football perspective it was great.”
Two years later though, Hawes’s job at the Ministry of Defence meant that once again he had to
leave Gosport, this time moving to Herentals in Belgium.
Despite living at the service quarters, Hawes went on to play for the local side KFC Herentals.
Playing for the football club meant that Hawes and his family were treated like royalty by the
local community, which helped him and his wife to adjust to life in Belgium quickly.
Without football, Hawes would have spent all his time in the service quarter, never exploring the
local area and getting to know people. Whilst many families in the base were restricted to just
the quarters, the Hawes family was experiencing life in Herentals.
“It was the best three years of our lives, it was an experience we wouldn’t normally have been
able to have with two children.
“No doubt that football helped us settle down there, we were treated like royalty because I
played for the club. Some of the guys at the base, their whole life was constrained to the mesh
life of work and social being in the same place. We wouldn’t swap our three years out there for
anything.”
After three years, Hawes was required to come back to Gosport by the Ministry of Defence.
Though not originally wanting to play semi-professional football, Hawes was convinced to rejoin
Gosport in 1991 by manager and friend Roger Buckland.
The club was completely unrecognisable to the one Hawes had left in 1987. Many players from
the golden period of the early and mid 80s had either retired or left the club. The new players
which were brought in were not from the local area and, to Hawes, didn’t have the same drive
and determination.
As a result, Hawes joined a club in the middle of two successive relegations instead of two
successive titles, with Gosport Borough now playing in the Wessex League.
“It was a completely different club. There were players there who were on lots of money, and
they were the wrong sort of players at the club. The atmosphere was bad at the time and we
were losing most of the time.”
By 1992, Hawes had decided to retire from the first team at the age of 38. However, his
involvement with the club didn’t stop, as he started to manage the youth team. Then in 1995 as
Roger Sherwood moved to Eastliegh, Hawes was appointed manager alongside Dave Pitt and
Barry Cook.
Life as joint-manager was not easy for Hawes, with the club still struggling financially, it meant
that there was no money to spend on the squad.It meant Hawes brought in players he knew
were proud to play for the club, and tried to get rid of the money ethos which had developed at
the club.
“I didn’t have much experience at the time, and had seen what had happened to Roger
Buckland at the time, so I decided to bring in Dave Pitt and Barry Cook who had previous
experience.
“What we did between the three of us was we brought in people locally that we knew and
trusted. I was also playing on the Sunday as well, and after three years decided to leave,
because I couldn’t fully commit.
“It was a hard three years, we had very little money, which meant we weren’t playing at a very
level playing field. Any players we brought through the youth system, we knew would be picked
off by teams that had money. I was probably a bit naive, I didn’t realise how bad financially it
was.”
Hawes then moved behind the scenes at the club, being a member of the board, then 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 Borough finally returned to the Southern League under Alex Pike.
“Ian Haye resigned and the committee didn’t want another guy who wanted to be chairman, so
we agreed I would be chairman for a year, and then resolve the situation the following year,
which happened and I became vice-chairman.
“It was never something permanent though, I was never really in the position to run as full-time
chairman. I didn’t have the financial resources to run the club and I still had a full-time job with
the Ministry of Defence.
“When I left as vice-chairman, I felt there was nothing else more that I could add to the club,
financially I wasn’t going to put money in myself. I could see the way the club was going,
finances was the biggest issue there and I just couldn’t contribute to that.”
Despite leaving the club in 2007, Hawes' love and passion for the club never wavered, still going
down to Privett Park as many times as he can to watch the Boro’.
It is a testament to the life of John Hawes, a man that despite all the times he was forced to
leave Gosport Borough he always found himself walking back through the gates of Privett Park.
A 19-year-old boy, who has left his home which is 171 miles away, has just entered the dressing
room of Privett Park into a team with players that have known each other since they were 7
years old, many playing with each other when they first kicked a ball.
This was the exact situation which faced John Hawes when he first joined Gosport Borough
reserves in 1973. A fresh-faced 19 year old who had moved from Plymouth to Gosport due to
his job in the Ministry of Defence.
To many this would be a hurdle too big to jump, but after being involved with the club for more
than 45 years, in that time making 680 appearances, 3 years as head coach of the first team,
along with being appointed as both chairman and vice-chairman, it is a hurdle that Hawes was
able to jump.
However, Hawes was already used to moving home as a child, with his dad working as a
Physical Training Instructor in the Royal Marines, the Plymouth-born boy moved to Malta at the
age of four and stayed until the age of six. His first footballing memories were kicking a football
around the gyms at his father’s work, with no school in the afternoon due to the heat.
“I’m a Plyothian and still a big [Plymouth] Argyle supporter. But the first memory I have of kicking
a football was in Malta, because we didn’t have school in the afternoon due to the heat. So my
dad, who was in charge of the PTI, used to take me along to the gym and I’d just kick a ball
about,” said Hawes.
“When we were growing up in the 1960s, we didn’t have game machines, you would just go
down to the park, kick the ball about, then go home and go to bed. Football and cricket was
really what we did.”
When Hawes came back to Plymouth, his world still revolved around football. Playing both in
and outside of school, with both his dad and teachers encouraging him to pursue his ambition of
playing football.
Whenever Hawes was not playing football, he would be in the stands at Home Park supporting
Plymouth Argyle watching talents such as Colin Sullivan, Barry Jones and Mike Bickle.
“I was pretty lucky in a sense, the school I went to had some very good teachers, who were very
keen on football. One of them was an Argyle player at the time.
“Another teacher at the time took me to play in men’s football when I was 16, and it was at a
reasonable standard. I had done all the Devon school football before that as well.
“All I wanted to do as a youngster was to play football and watch Argyle play, I remember
watching Colin Sullivan. He was a super player at the time and he had played for Plymouth at
the age of 16, and someone who I got to play with when I was at Fareham veterans.”
In 1972, due to his job in the Ministry of Defence, Hawes moved to Centorian in Gosport, a
place at the time he had never heard of. Having played for the Centorian football team during
the 1972/1973 season, on the last game of the season he was asked to go down to Privett Park
to play for the reserves.
It was a daunting task for Hawes to go into the dressing of the Gosport Borough reserves, with
the majority of the players having been raised in Gosport and playing each other since their
school-footballing days, with the squad including players such as Tony Mahoney and Neville
Woodd.
Though Hawes was able to overcome the challenge. He adapted well and integrated himself
into the team over the summer, admitting that he is quite a sociable person.
“I started playing in the Sunday Gosport league, who were quite a strong side at the time. At the
end of the season, Tony Higman [Gosport manager] and Mick Slaymaker came down, watched
a few games and asked if I would like to join.
“I played a few games at the end of the season, which I think helped for the start of the following
season. It was a little bit difficult because all these players were Gosport guys and had played
together for school sides.
“In the next season though, things just clicked. I was scoring goals and was a sociable person,
so it wasn’t really a challenge in the end.”
In 1975, Hawes moved to Alton Town after Higman and Slaymaker left the club and Brian
Mesher was hired as the new Gosport manager. Hawes felt that his first team appearances
would be limited as Mesher brought in players from his previous club.
The turning point though for Hawes was during a pre-season friendly, when Mesher threatened
one of the senior players, Ron Wilson. This self-doubt meant Hawes questioned whether he
could give 100 percent whilst playing for him.
“At the end of the first season I had played, Tony Higman and Mick Slaymaker resigned, and
Brian Mesher joined the club to manage next season. He brought some players in with him, so I
was not concerned, but thought perhaps I wasn’t going to get as many first team appearances.
“The thing that actually made my mind up, was we were playing a pre-season friendly. Brian
took one of the senior players, Ron Wilson, and was extreme, I don’t know what built up to it,
but more-or-less threatened him.
“Ron was one of the nicest, most gentlemanly people you could wish to meet, and I thought to
myself do I really want to play for Brian. A few days later, Alton got in touch and they played in
the Athenian league, a London-based league which at the time was possibly a slightly better
standard.”
Hawes spent two years at Alton, first arriving into a team with mainly former Portsmouth players
such as Lenny Phillips, Keith Ward, Barry Dyer, Malcolm White and Les MacDonald. Though
this wasn’t a problem, as Hawes was able to integrate himself into the side, and able to
socialise with the players, as he still lived in Gosport at the time.
However, his second season at the club didn’t go as well. A managerial change meant that the
majority of the Pompey players at the club had left, with only a few players from Gosport or the
surrounding area travelling up to Alton. Despite the changes in his last season, Hawes looks
back fondly at his memories playing for Alton Town.
“The first year I played for Alton it was basically Portsmouth players and the former Pompey
manager. The first season I was there was relatively straight forward.
“In the second season, there was a change of manager. There were only a couple of us going
up from Gosport, one of them being Richard Reid, and I used to go up with him. I enjoyed those
two seasons, I think they did me good actually.”
In 1977, Hawes returned to Gosport Borough, Peter Edgar asked for him to come back to the
club, even going to his house and pleading him to rejoin the Boro’. Hawes also knew he was
joining a club which had the potential to win silverware, having already won the 1976/77
Hampshire league title.
At the time, things in his personal life were changing. In 1976 Hawes would go on to marry his
wife Deborah, who he is still with today, and felt that travelling up to Alton and London for away
games was not possible anymore.
“In 76’, I got married, which meant playing for Gosport would be more convenient. Pete Edgar
did make an effort, he came out and spoke to me, it is always nice to feel wanted, and Gosport
had just won the league. It was just the right time to come back to the club.”
Hawes didn’t feel the pressure of going into a starting 11 which had previously won the league,
Gosport’s first title in 31 seasons. He wasn’t the typical number-nine, Hawes was extremely thin
and not very physical, even being pushed back into midfield until Christmas.
However, Hawes was able to show skill and talent, after being moved back up to the striker
position he went onto score 33 goals. These goals helped Gosport go on to win their second
Hampshire league title, and ultimately get elected to join the Southern League.
“I wasn’t a proper number-nine, physically, I wasn’t big enough or strong, and I was extremely
thin. I played in midfield up until Christmas, we had a pretty poor start that year. After Christmas,
they played me upfront, and I just couldn’t stop scoring goals.
“In the end, I found it quite easy coming back to the club. All local lads, the likes of Tony
Mahoney, were great people, so it was fairly easy. I think it being more convenient playing for
Gosport also helped me as well.”
Hawes was playing in a golden period at the club, where the team couldn’t stop winning. Their
good form meant that Gosport never finished outside the top four in their first four seasons in
the Southern League.
With the majority of the players at the time from Gosport, the club was firmly in the hearts of the
community. With Hawes himself being stopped in the street to talk about football and Gosport
Borough.
“We keep saying it was the best years of our lives. For the next number of years we were
winning, doing well and going up the league, it was fantastic. People wanted to talk to you about
football all the time.”
“To play with your mates, and to go to places like Dartford, Dover, Crawley and Wealdstone,
then go and get a result was just incredible. It really was an incredible achievement those next
few seasons.”
Though this all ended in 1984, the reason which had caused Hawes to move to Gosport in 1972
was now the reason he was leaving. The Ministry of Defence had relocated Hawes to
Trowbridge, and now with two young children, it meant it was not possible to play and live in
Gosport
Despite Trowbridge FC playing at the same level as Borough, the love and affection Hawes had
felt for Gosport was not the same for Trowbridge. The club had been relegated the season
before and was now in financial trouble. The importance of team spirit and the strong bond
between players which Hawes found at Gosport was non-existent at Trowbridge.
“The move to Trowbridge was due to the Ministry of Defence moving me. We had young
children, so I couldn’t travel all the way to Gosport to play.
“At the time, Trowbridge had just been relegated from what is now known as the National
League, so I thought I would be playing at a reasonable standard and it was a walkable
distance. But it wasn’t a particularly well run club, coming out of the National league there were
a lot of issues financially.”
By Christmas, Hawes had left Trowbirgde, not happy about the situation and atmosphere
around the club. At the same time, his wife’s father had died, and his mother-in-law now alone
living in Gosport, meant they felt it was the right time to go back.
Hawes returned to the Boro’, to an atmosphere completely different to Trowbridge, even though
Gosport had also been relegated the season before, and to surroundings he was familiar with.
Hawes joined a side which would go onto win 16 of their final 19 matches of the season,
winning promotion back to the Southern Premier Division.
Despite Hawes being injured for the final game against Salisbury (in which Gosport won 5-0), he
was still astonished by the atmosphere on the day, with over 1,500 people turning up to Privett
Park to see Borough earn promotion.
“I got injured two or three games before the match against Salisbury. I remember on the day
though, I watched the game and then was serving behind the bar because it was absolutely
chaotic. It was a super atmosphere.
“I certainly enjoyed coming back to the club and it made me appreciate more what Pete Edgar
and Tony Brickwood had done for the club. Obviously it wasn’t always easy with the travelling. I
remember one time having to travel from Crawley to Gosport, then Gosport to Trowbridge. It
wasn’t ideal, but from a football perspective it was great.”
Two years later though, Hawes’s job at the Ministry of Defence meant that once again he had to
leave Gosport, this time moving to Herentals in Belgium.
Despite living at the service quarters, Hawes went on to play for the local side KFC Herentals.
Playing for the football club meant that Hawes and his family were treated like royalty by the
local community, which helped him and his wife to adjust to life in Belgium quickly.
Without football, Hawes would have spent all his time in the service quarter, never exploring the
local area and getting to know people. Whilst many families in the base were restricted to just
the quarters, the Hawes family was experiencing life in Herentals.
“It was the best three years of our lives, it was an experience we wouldn’t normally have been
able to have with two children.
“No doubt that football helped us settle down there, we were treated like royalty because I
played for the club. Some of the guys at the base, their whole life was constrained to the mesh
life of work and social being in the same place. We wouldn’t swap our three years out there for
anything.”
After three years, Hawes was required to come back to Gosport by the Ministry of Defence.
Though not originally wanting to play semi-professional football, Hawes was convinced to rejoin
Gosport in 1991 by manager and friend Roger Buckland.
The club was completely unrecognisable to the one Hawes had left in 1987. Many players from
the golden period of the early and mid 80s had either retired or left the club. The new players
which were brought in were not from the local area and, to Hawes, didn’t have the same drive
and determination.
As a result, Hawes joined a club in the middle of two successive relegations instead of two
successive titles, with Gosport Borough now playing in the Wessex League.
“It was a completely different club. There were players there who were on lots of money, and
they were the wrong sort of players at the club. The atmosphere was bad at the time and we
were losing most of the time.”
By 1992, Hawes had decided to retire from the first team at the age of 38. However, his
involvement with the club didn’t stop, as he started to manage the youth team. Then in 1995 as
Roger Sherwood moved to Eastliegh, Hawes was appointed manager alongside Dave Pitt and
Barry Cook.
Life as joint-manager was not easy for Hawes, with the club still struggling financially, it meant
that there was no money to spend on the squad.It meant Hawes brought in players he knew
were proud to play for the club, and tried to get rid of the money ethos which had developed at
the club.
“I didn’t have much experience at the time, and had seen what had happened to Roger
Buckland at the time, so I decided to bring in Dave Pitt and Barry Cook who had previous
experience.
“What we did between the three of us was we brought in people locally that we knew and
trusted. I was also playing on the Sunday as well, and after three years decided to leave,
because I couldn’t fully commit.
“It was a hard three years, we had very little money, which meant we weren’t playing at a very
level playing field. Any players we brought through the youth system, we knew would be picked
off by teams that had money. I was probably a bit naive, I didn’t realise how bad financially it
was.”
Hawes then moved behind the scenes at the club, being a member of the board, then 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 Borough finally returned to the Southern League under Alex Pike.
“Ian Haye resigned and the committee didn’t want another guy who wanted to be chairman, so
we agreed I would be chairman for a year, and then resolve the situation the following year,
which happened and I became vice-chairman.
“It was never something permanent though, I was never really in the position to run as full-time
chairman. I didn’t have the financial resources to run the club and I still had a full-time job with
the Ministry of Defence.
“When I left as vice-chairman, I felt there was nothing else more that I could add to the club,
financially I wasn’t going to put money in myself. I could see the way the club was going,
finances was the biggest issue there and I just couldn’t contribute to that.”
Despite leaving the club in 2007, Hawes' love and passion for the club never wavered, still going
down to Privett Park as many times as he can to watch the Boro’.
It is a testament to the life of John Hawes, a man that despite all the times he was forced to
leave Gosport Borough he always found himself walking back through the gates of Privett Park.
Further reading