In the latest of our “Twenty-two Days in May”, we celebrate Kent’s double triumph in May 2000 when Deal Town won the FA Vase and Gillingham won the Play Off Final.

Today we focus on the Welsh international striker who played for and went on to manage the Gills, but ended his illustrious playing career leading the Deal Town front line that famous day – KSN’s chief football writer Mike Green has been talking to Steve Lovell…

It doesn’t seem possible it’s twenty years,” Steve admitted to us, “it’s gone so quickly! But it was a great season – my last season in that we finished the season at Wembley with Deal.”

“It came about in funny circumstances as I thought I was going to finish the season before, but Tommy (Sampson) persuaded me to have another season – I remember meeting him on the golf course at Sittingbourne with him saying, “have one more season; we’re going to go to Wembley. We’re going to win the FA Vase; we’re going to win the League and I want you to be a part of it – give it one more go!” And so, it was, I got myself half fit for a forty-year-old and managed to play the season and as we all know it was a great day to end it.”

Having reached the round of sixteen, Deal headed to the North East to play Crook Town, and it was that day that Steve believed proved a vital turning point on the Road to Wembley – he told us, “I remember after the Crook game going into the dressing room and Tom being very happy with the performance, as I think he thought that was possibly the turning point on the run.”

“We were doing quite well in the League as well and I think he wanted to push on a little bit more and I don’t think that we were performing at our best, but I think after that game in the North East it sort of pushed us on and we really had a very good end to the season.”

“From early on as a manager Tom kept the players together and he knew what he was going to get out of the boys and I think that any manager if they move from club to club, there’s always two or three players that you want to take with you because you know what you’re going to get out of the players.”

“But I think Tom was lucky in that respect that he had half a dozen boys – maybe more – that he knew what he was going to get out of them on a weekly basis and he took them with him wherever he went and they gave the results.”

“The players were experienced lads and they’d been around Non-League a long time and I went in as I am – my own personality – and I was one of the boys and fitted in nicely with them.”

“I gave them something I think that helped them and I think they respected that – they knew that I wasn’t going to run and run like I used to – I’d do enough, I’d hold the ball up and get a goal now and again. I knew that was all I could do; they knew that was all I could do, and I think that the respect was there in that aspect.”

And so, to Saturday May 6^th and the meeting with Chippenham Town under the Twin Towers. “The Final was a boiling hot day – it was red hot,” Steve exclaimed, “and I remember walking out at Wembley – I’d never played there before; I’d been there with Gillingham the previous year when they played Manchester City.”

“It was nice to be there again, but when we walked out it was boiling, really boiling hot and I was a forty-year-old player who was knackered before I even started!” Steve reminisces, “the pitch was very spongy, and sapping and I remember that it was tough, and I’d go so far as saying it was the hardest first half I ever had in football!”

“But I managed to get through it and last the hour and that was enough for me and I left it to the “young ones” to go on and win the game and do the job.”

“It was great goal of course to win the game – a great ball through and Roly (Graham) took it and smashed in, didn’t he? There weren’t many moments in the game where you think it could be four or five-nil or a high scoring draw, it was always going to be something special to win the game because of the conditions, because of the heat.”

“So, it wasn’t the best game in the world and a little bit of quality was going to win it and that was it! A great goal to win any Final! When Marshy (Steve Marshall) used to get the ball, we knew that he could run and do something – the space opened up for him and he then delivered the ball and the rest is history!”

“We had good players in the team at that level and Tom played players in positions where he can get the best out of their best abilities, and Marshy could run, but usually he was the one in the box sticking it in and this time he created the chance for someone else.”

“Great memories; great memories – a really nice day for everyone! And that was it as far as I was concerned playing-wise – I knew that I couldn’t do any more, but I just wanted to finish there – it was a great place to finish and with a player I respect immensely in Tom – it was a great day!”

Next time we turn our attention back to the Gills Play Off Final win and speak to one of main men who that season’s triumph was built on as we turn our focus on Guy Butters